Editing John Tukey (section)

== Scientific contributions ==
Early in his career Tukey worked on developing [[statistical]] methods for computers at [[Bell Labs]], where he coined the word ''bit'' in 1947.<ref name="Shannon_1948_1"/><ref name="Shannon_1948_2"/><ref name="Shannon_1949"/>

His statistical interests were many and varied. He is particularly remembered for his development with [[James Cooley]] of the [[Cooley–Tukey FFT algorithm]]. In 1970, he contributed significantly to what is today known as the [[Jackknife resampling|jackknife]]—also termed Quenouille–Tukey jackknife. He introduced the [[box plot]] in his 1977 book, "Exploratory Data Analysis".

[[Tukey's range test]], the [[Tukey lambda distribution]], [[Tukey's test of additivity]], [[Tukey's lemma]], and the [[Tukey window]] all bear his name. He is also the creator of several little-known methods such as the [[trimean]] and [[Median#Median.E2.80.93median line|median-median line]], an easier alternative to [[linear regression]].

In 1974, he developed, with [[Jerome H. Friedman]], the concept of the [[projection pursuit]].<ref>{{cite journal |title=A Projection Pursuit Algorithm for Exploratory Data Analysis |author-first1=Jerome H. |author-last1=Friedman |author-link1=Jerome H. Friedman |author-first2=John Wilder |author-last2=Tukey |author-link2=John Tukey |journal=[[IEEE Transactions on Computers]] |date=September 1974 |volume=C-23 |issue=9 |pages= 881–890 |issn=0018-9340 |doi=10.1109/T-C.1974.224051|osti=1442925 |s2cid=7997450 }}</ref>

=== Data analysis and foundations of data science ===

John Tukey contributed greatly to statistical practice and data analysis in general. In fact, some regard John Tukey as the father of data science. At the very least, he pioneered many of the key foundations of what came later to be known as data science.<ref>David Donoho (2017), 50 Years of Data Science, Journal of Computational and Graphical Statistics, 2017, https://doi.org/10.1080/10618600.2017.1384734</ref>

Making sense of data has a long history and has been addressed by statisticians, mathematicians, scientists, and others for many many years. During the 1960s, Tukey challenged the dominance at the time of what he called "confirmatory data analysis", statistical analyses driven by rigid mathematical configurations.<ref>John W. Tukey (1962) The Future of Data Analysis.  Ann. Math. Statist. 33(1): 1-67. DOI: 10.1214/aoms/1177704711.</ref> Tukey emphasized the importance of having a more flexible attitude towards data analysis and of exploring data carefully to see what structures and information might be contained therein. He called this "exploratory data analysis" (EDA). In many ways, EDA was a precursor to data science.

Tukey also realized the importance of computer science to EDA. Graphics are an integral part of EDA methodology and, while much of Tukey's work focused on static displays (such as box plots) that could be drawn by hand, he realized that computer graphics would be much more effective for studying multivariate data. PRIM-9, the first program for viewing multivariate data, was conceived by him during the early 1970s.<ref>Friedman, J. H., & Stuetzle, W. (2002). John W. Tukey’s Work on Interactive Graphics. The Annals of Statistics, 30(6), 1629-1639. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1558733</ref>

This coupling of data analysis and computer science is what is now called data science.

Tukey articulated the important distinction between [[exploratory data analysis]] and [[confirmatory data analysis]], believing that much statistical methodology placed too great an emphasis on the latter. Though he believed in the utility of separating the two types of analysis, he pointed out that sometimes, especially in [[natural science]], this was problematic and termed such situations [[uncomfortable science]].

A. D. Gordon offered the following summary of Tukey's principles for statistical practice:<ref name="mathshistory">{{cite web |title=John Tukey - Biography |url=https://mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Tukey/ |website=Maths History |access-date=18 February 2022 |language=en}}</ref>
{{blockquote|... the usefulness and limitation of mathematical statistics; the importance of having methods of statistical analysis that are robust to violations of the assumptions underlying their use; the need to amass experience of the behaviour of specific methods of analysis in order to provide guidance on their use; the importance of allowing the possibility of data's influencing the choice of method by which they are analysed; the need for statisticians to reject the role of "guardian of proven truth", and to resist attempts to provide once-for-all solutions and tidy over-unifications of the subject; the iterative nature of data analysis; implications of the increasing power, availability, and cheapness of computing facilities; the training of statisticians.}}

Tukey's lectures were described to be unusual. McCullagh described his lecture given in London in 1977:<ref name="mathshistory"/><ref>P McCullagh, John Wilder Tukey, ''Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society'' 49 (2003), 538-559.</ref>
{{blockquote|Tukey ambled to the podium, a great bear of a man dressed in baggy pants and a black knitted shirt. These might once have been a matching pair but the vintage was such that it was hard to tell. ... Carefully and deliberately a list of headings was chalked on the blackboard. The words came too, not many, like overweight parcels, delivered at a slow unfaltering pace. ... When it was complete, Tukey turned to face the audience and the podium ... "Comments, queries, suggestions?" he asked the audience ... As he waited for a response, he clambered onto the podium and manoeuvred until he was sitting cross-legged facing the audience. ... We in the audience sat like spectators at the zoo waiting for the great bear to move or say something. But the great bear appeared to be doing the same thing, and the feeling was not comfortable.}}