Quételet

Adolphe Quetelet was a Belgian astronomer, mathematician, statistician, and sociologist born in 1796. He is widely recognized for his pioneering work in applying statistical methods to the study of social phenomena. Quetelet developed the concept of the "average man," a statistical construct representing the typical characteristics of a population. He believed that by analyzing large datasets, patterns and regularities in human behavior could be identified and understood.

His research focused on areas such as crime rates, marriage statistics, and mortality rates. Quetelet was instrumental in developing the body mass index (BMI), though it was later refined and popularized by others. He was a strong proponent of using empirical observation and data analysis to gain insights into society, a significant departure from purely philosophical or theoretical approaches. Quetelet's influence extended to the development of criminology and social physics, a term he coined to describe the statistical study of society. He passed away in 1874.