History of Error Bars in Physics

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the historical development of error bars in scientific publications, particularly in physics. Participants are exploring when and how the practice of including error bars became a standard in scientific work, reflecting on its evolution over time.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Historical

Main Points Raised

  • One participant notes that an 1803 paper by Thomas Young did not include error bars, prompting questions about their historical significance.
  • Another participant seeks to understand the timeline and context of when error bars became common in scientific literature, questioning whether it was a collective decision among scientists or initiated by an individual.
  • A reference is made to a source suggesting that error bars became essential in the 1950s, though details on this transition are not provided.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express curiosity about the history of error bars, but there is no consensus on the specific timeline or the reasons behind their adoption in scientific practice.

Contextual Notes

Participants mention a lack of detailed historical accounts regarding the introduction of error bars, indicating that the discussion may depend on further research into historical practices and publications.

eudo
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I was reading an 1803 paper by Thomas Young (of double slit fame), "Experiments and Calculations relative to physical Optics". In it, he lists various dimensions of fringes of light and things.

All without any error bars.

It got me thinking, what's the history of error bars in scientific work? I mean nowadays, no one would submit a paper without any error bars. How did this become the standard?
 
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That page is more a brief description of what an error bar is. I'm looking more for the history of its development. When did it become common to put error bars around things? Did a bunch of scientists come to some conference one day and discuss how they needed to describe the uncertainties in their measurements? Or did one guy start doing it, and others thought that was a great idea and followed suit? That sort of thing...

Actually, I found another thread that I missed before, talking about something similar:

https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/history-of-error-analysis.791647/
[PLAIN]https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/history-of-error-analysis.791647/[/PLAIN]
 
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eudo said:
It got me thinking, what's the history of error bars in scientific work? I mean nowadays, no one would submit a paper without any error bars. How did this become the standard?
Towards the end of this reference it says that error bars became considered essential sometime in the 1950s, but it doesn’t give further details

http://www.edu-observatory.org/physics-faq/Relativity/SR/experiments.html
 

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