# Secular Status Difference Between Applied and Pure Mathematics

Coming from outside the field but with healthy curiosity I have been struck by what may be regarded as a discrepancy between the impact on science at large of the mathematics developed in the field of statistics, and the relative lack of popular recognition of its most outstanding figures.

Here come to mind the ubiquitous use of t-tests and ANOVA in medicine, biology, and psychology for example. Certainly, a lot of life-altering decisions on treatment of individuals, as well as health policies, have been informed by results considered scientific and hence trustworthy due to their foundation on these mathematical tools passed along by figures such as RA Fisher (or William Gosset). Another prominent name who has changed our understanding of science, and practically issued an epistemology of empiricism in its own right, can be found in reverend Thomas Bayes.

Anecdotally, a Google search of top mathematicians in history yields all sort of returns on the first page, one of them broad enough to be promising: "List of Important Mathematicians", without mention of RA Fisher, or Karl Pearson, John Tukey... Under "Famous Mathematicians" even CF Gauss is left out.

In trying to sort out a reason for this differential appreciation of historical figures in mathematics and science by the public at large, a suggestion was advanced in one of the comments that perhaps this was extensive to all applied mathematics, not just statistics, in contradistinction to pure mathematics.

This is a plausible explanation, and invites the reformulation of the initial question as: What has been the relation and mutual regard of pure and applied branches of mathematics throughout history?

• So... What is your question exactly? Right now, it sounds like: "This list on the internet doesn't feature a bunch of researchers that I think are important. Does this mean nobody else thinks they're important?", which doesn't really make for a great question, in my opinion. – Danu Sep 2 '15 at 6:59
• I feel like this is opinion-based, and not necessarily about history. – HDE 226868 Sep 2 '15 at 12:52
• I just opened a vote to close on this question. I resent it is neither about the history of mathematics, nor answerable by knowledge and observation. – VicAche Sep 2 '15 at 15:57
• @AntoniParellada I think "resent" may have been some typo; with it, the sentence isn't grammatically correct. Also, I closed to question for you just now. – HDE 226868 Sep 2 '15 at 16:19
• I got a different result when searching for Famous Statisticians, the top link has all the mentioned names listed worldofstatistics.org/famous-statisticians-from-history Whether statistics is mathematics seems to depend on one's philosophy, same as whether mathematics is science. Regardless of merits contrary opinion is common on both sides simplystatistics.org/2013/01/11/… math.stackexchange.com/questions/286730/… My guess is that list compilers simply choose to keep them separate – Conifold Sep 2 '15 at 18:21