Adolphe Quetelet

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Adolphe Quetelet

Adolphe Quetelet , 1796-1874, Belgian statistician and astronomer. He was the first director (1828) of the Royal Observatory at Brussels. As supervisor of statistics for Belgium (from 1830), he developed many of the rules governing modern census taking and stimulated statistical activity in other countries. Applying statistics to social phenomena, he developed the concept of the "average man" and established the theoretical foundations for the use of statistics in social physics or, as it is now known, sociology. Thus, he is considered by many to be the founder of modern quantitative social science. A Treatise on Man (1835; tr., 1842) is his best-known work.

Bibliography: See study by F. H. Hankins (1908, repr. 1968).

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Quetelet, Lambert Adolphe Jacques

A Dictionary of Food and Nutrition | 2005 | | Â© A Dictionary of Food and Nutrition 2005, originally published by Oxford University Press 2005. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

Quetelet, Lambert Adolphe Jacques (1796–1874) Belgian statistician; first developed the index of weight/height²; now usually called body mass index, but also known as Quetelet's index.

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DAVID A. BENDER. "Quetelet, Lambert Adolphe Jacques." A Dictionary of Food and Nutrition. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. 26 Dec. 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

DAVID A. BENDER. "Quetelet, Lambert Adolphe Jacques." A Dictionary of Food and Nutrition. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. (December 26, 2009). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O39-QueteletLambertAdolphJcqs.html

DAVID A. BENDER. "Quetelet, Lambert Adolphe Jacques." A Dictionary of Food and Nutrition. 2005. Retrieved December 26, 2009 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O39-QueteletLambertAdolphJcqs.html

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