Editing Pierre Gy (section)

{{Short description|Chemist and statistician}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2025}}

'''Pierre Maurice Gy''' ({{IPA|fr|pjɛʁ ʒi|lang}}; 25 July 1924 – 5 November 2015) was a [[chemist]] and [[statistician]].<ref>{{cite web|title=A los 91 años fallece Pierre Gy, químico creador de la teoría de muestreo de minerales|url=http://www.revistaquimica.cl/?p=3700|publisher=revistaquimica|accessdate=6 December 2015|language=Spanish}}</ref> Born in Paris, France, to Felix and Clemence, Gy graduated in [[chemical engineering]] from [[École supérieure de physique et de chimie industrielles de la ville de Paris|ESPCI ParisTech]]<ref>[http://www.espci.org/fr/anciens/eleves/62/  ESPCI ParisTech Alumni 1946]</ref> in 1946.<ref name=esbensen>{{cite journal|
  title=50 years of Pierre Gy's "Theory of Sampling"—WCSB1: a tribute|
  author=Esbensen, K.H.|
  journal=Chemometrics and Intelligent Laboratory Systems|
  volume=74|
  number=1|
  pages=3–6|
  year=2004|
  publisher=Elsevier
|doi=10.1016/j.chemolab.2004.06.005}}</ref>

On graduation, Gy worked as a [[chemical engineer]] for the [[Compagnie Minière du Congo Français]], [[Republic of the Congo|Congo]], before returning to Paris in 1949 as a research engineer for the mining and processing trade organisation [[Minerais et Metaux]]. It was during this time that Gy started to address fundamental issues in [[sampling (statistics)|sampling]], especially those concerned with characterising industrial bulk chemicals, aggregates and chemical processes. Gy became head of the mineral processing laboratories and, by 1962, technical manager, during which time he continued to develop his [[Gy's sampling theory|sampling theory]]. Since 1963 he has worked as an industrial sampling consultant.

Gy received doctorates in [[physics]] (1960) and [[mathematics]] (1975) from the [[University of Nancy]] but has always worked outside the academic mainstream, publishing 9 books and over 175 papers,<ref>{{cite journal|
journal = Chemometrics and Intelligent Laboratory Systems|
volume = 74|
number = 1|
pages = 61–70|
year=2004|
doi= 10.1016/j.chemolab.2004.05.010|
author=Pierre Gy
|title=Part V: Annotated literature compilation of Pierre Gy
}}</ref> including:

* (1979) ''SAMPLING OF PARTICULATE MATERIALS; theory and practice''
*(1992) ''Sampling of Heterogeneous and Dynamic Material Systems: Theories of Heterogeneity, Sampling and Homogenizing''
*(1998) ''Sampling for Analytical Purposes''

In August 2003, the First World Conference on Sampling and Blending (WCSB1) was held in honour of Dr Pierre Gy in Esbjerg. WCSB2 was held in Queensland, Australia (May 2005) and WCSB3 in Porto Alegre, Brazil (October 2007). [https://web.archive.org/web/20080327042035/http://www.wcsb4.com/ WCSB4] took place in 2009, WCSB5 in Santiago, Chile and WCSB6 in Lima, Peru. Pierre Gy's work was still the subject of debate and recognition at WCSB7 in Bordeaux, July 2015.
He will remain one of the founding fathers of sampling science.