Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

P.C. Mahalanobis

Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis (Bangla: প্রশান্ত চন্দ্র মহলানবিস) (June 29, 1893–June 28, 1972) was an Indian scientist and applied statistician. He is best known for the Mahalanobis distance, a statistical measure. He did pioneering work on anthropometric variation in India. He founded the Indian Statistical Institute, and contributed to large scale sample surveys.

1 Biography
2 Awards
3 Biographies
4 External links
5 Note

[edit] Biography

His father, Prabodh Chandra, was an active member of the Sadharan Brahmo Samaj. His mother, Nirodbasini, belonged to a family of considerable academic achievements. He graduated in physics in 1912 from the Presidency College, Kolkata and completed Tripos at King's College, Cambridge. He then returned to Calcutta.

Inspired by Biometrika and mentored by Acharya Brajendra Nath Seal he started his statistical work. Initially he worked on analyzing university exam results, anthropometric measurements on Anglo-Indians of Calcutta and some metrological problems. He also worked as a meteorologist for some time. In 1924, when he was working on the probable error of results of agricultural experiments, he met Ronald Fisher, with whom he established a life-long friendship. He also worked on schemes to prevent floods.

His most important contributions are related to large scale sample surveys. He introduced the concept of pilot surveys and advocated the usefulness of sampling methods. His name is also associated with the scale free multivariate distance measure, the Mahalanobis distance. He founded the Indian Statistical Institute on 17 December, 1931.

In later life, he contributed prominently to newly independent India's five-year plans starting from the second. His variant of Wassily Leontief's neo-Marxist Input-output model, the Mahalanobis model, was employed in the Second Five Year Plan, which worked towards the rapid industrialization of India and with other colleagues at his institute, he played a key role in the development of a statistical infrastructure.

He also had an abiding interest in cultural pursuits and served as secretary to Rabindranath Tagore, particularly during the latter's foreign travels, and also worked at his Visva-Bharati University, for some time. He received one of the highest civilian awards, the Padma Vibhushan from the Government of India for his contribution to science and services to the country.

He died on Jun 28, 1972, a day before his seventy-ninth birthday. Even at this age, he was still active doing research work and discharging his duties as the Secretary and Director of the Indian Statistical Institute and as the Honorary Statistical Advisor to the Cabinet of the Government of India.

The government of India has decided to celebrate his birthday, 29 June, as National Statistical Day. ^[1]

[edit] Awards

Weldon Medal from Oxford University (1944)
Fellow of the Royal Society, London (1945)
Honorary President, International Statistical Institute (1957)
Padma Vibhushan (1968)

[edit] Biographies

Rao, C.R. (1973), Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis, 1893-1972. Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of The Royal Society, 19, 455-492.
Rudra, A. (1996), Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis: A Biography. Oxford University