October 12: Bradley Efron, Stanford University

SCHOOL OF STATISTICS
and
THE COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS
UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

BUEHLER-MARTIN DISTINGUISHED LECTURER SERIES
October 12, 13, and 14, 1999

Established by Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Martin
in Memory of
Robert J. Buehler, Professor of Statistics (1963-1988)

Shakespeare and the Case of the Suspicious Statisticians

Bradley Efron
Department of Statistics
Stanford University

Tuesday, October 12, 1999
4:00-5:00 PM, Cowles Auditorium, Hubert H.Humphrey Center
Social at 3:30 PM in the Humphrey Center Atrium

Abstract

On November 15 1985 a Shakespearean scholar discovered a nine stanza poem attributed to Shakespeare in a bound volume that had been lying in Oxford's Bodlian Library since 1755. If authentic it would be the first work of Shakespeare discovered since the 17th century. Did Shakespeare really write the poem? More to the point for this lecture, could statistical analysis of the text shed light on its true authorship? A statistical theory originally developed to estimate missing butterfly species turns out to have something to say about the disputed poem.