The development of a biological notion of "population" over the first century of the theory of evolution has been commented upon by a number of historians and philosophers of biology. Somewhat less commonly discussed, however, is the parallel development of the statistical concept of a population over precisely the same period, in some cases driven by the same historical actors (such as Francis Galton and R. A. Fisher). We explore here these parallel developments, first from the perspective of a reconstruction of the historical development of each concept, then with the aid of a digital analysis of a corpus of literature drawn from the journals Biometrika and JournalofGenetics, between 1900 and 1960. These twin analyses show both points of interesting overlap between these two historical trends as well as points of important divergence. The biological and statistical notions of "population" seem to be relatively clearly distinguishable over these six decades, in spite of the fact that a number of authors contributed clearly to both traditions. The complex interplay of continuity and discontinuity across these two notions of "population" makes them a particularly interesting case study of scientific conceptual change.

Nicola Bertoldi

Charles H Pence

Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A

Studies in History and Philosophy of Science is devoted to the integrated study of the history, philosophy and sociology of the sciences. The editors encourage contributions both in the long-established areas of the history of the sciences and the philosophy of the sciences and in the topical areas of historiography of the sciences, the sciences in relation to gender, culture and society and the sciences in relation to arts. The Journal is international in scope and content and publishes papers from a wide range of countries and cultural traditions.

Studies in History and Philosophy of Science is dedicated to the integrated study of the history, philosophy, and sociology of the sciences. The editors encourage contributions in both the established areas of the history and philosophy of science, as well as in topical areas such as the historiography of science, the relationship of science to gender, culture, and society, and the relationship of science to the arts. The journal has an international scope and publishes papers from a wide range of countries and cultural traditions.

《Studies in History and Philosophy of Science》致力于科学历史、哲学和社会学的综合研究。编辑们鼓励在科学历史和科学哲学的传统领域，以及科学史学、科学与性别、文化和社会的关系，以及科学与艺术的关系等专题领域投稿。该期刊具有国际视野，内容广泛，欢迎来自不同国家和文化传统的论文。

Category	Quartile
哲学	2
哲学, 科学史与科学哲学	3

“Population” in biology and statistics

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Journal Info

Category	Quartile
HISTORY & PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE	1