D. J. Bartholomew | |
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Born | 6 August 1931 |
Died | 16 October 2017 |
Occupation(s) | Statistician, writer |
David John Bartholomew FBA (6 August 1931 – 16 October 2017) was a British statistician who was president of the Royal Statistical Society between 1993 and 1995.[1] He was professor of statistics at the London School of Economics between 1973 and 1996.[2]
Bartholomew was born 6 August 1931, the son of Albert and Joyce Bartholomew in Oakley, Bedfordshire.[2][3] He was educated at Bedford Modern School[4] and University College London, where he earned his BSc and PhD.[1]
Bartholomew began his career as a scientist at the National Coal Board in 1955.[2] In 1957 he became a lecturer in statistics at the University of Keele,[2] before his appointment as a senior lecturer at the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth.[2]
Bartholomew was appointed professor of statistics at the University of Kent in 1967[2] before being made professor of statistics at the London School of Economics in 1973, a position he held until 1996. He was emeritus professor (pro-director) between 1988 and 1991.[2]
Bartholomew was president of the Royal Statistical Society, 1993–95 (honorary secretary, 1976–82; treasurer, 1989–93).[2] He was vice-president of the Manpower Society (1987–95)[2] and was chairman of the Science and Religion Forum between 1997 and 2000.[2]
In 1955, Bartholomew married Marian Elsie Lake, and they have two daughters.[5] Bartholomew was elected a Fellow of the British Academy in 1987.[2]
Bartholomew authored several books defending the existence of the Christian God from a Biblical and statistical basis, God of Chance (1984), Uncertain Belief: Is It Rational to Be a Christian? (1996) and God, Chance and Purpose (2008).[6][7][8]
In his 1984 book God of Chance, Bartholomew argued that the universe is "designed in such a way that chance had a role to play... Chance was God's idea and... he uses it to ensure the variety, resilience and freedom necessary to achieve his purposes."[9] Similarly, his 2008 book God, Chance and Purpose argues that chance is part of the means by which God governs the world.[10]
Bartholomew debated atheist physicist Victor Stenger on whether or not God is a failed hypothesis.[1]