%0 Journal Article %1 kendall1966branching %A Kendall, David G. %D 1966 %J Journal of the London Mathematical Society %K branching_processes history review %N 1 %P 385-406 %R 10.1112/jlms/s1-41.1.385 %T Branching Processes Since 1873 %U http://jlms.oxfordjournals.org/content/s1-41/1/385.short %V s1-41 %X The term " branching process " appears to have been coined by A. N. Kolmogorov and N. A. Dmitriev 30 in 1947 to describe the stochastic processes which arise when the theory of probability is introduced into population mathematics, but the subject is much older than one might suppose from this fact, and goes back nearly one hundred years. The early history of the theory of branching processes centres round the figure of the Reverend Henry William Watson, clergyman, mathe- matician and alpinist. An account of his activities brings to life the kind of world in which our Society was founded. Watson was born in 1827 and entered Trinity College, Cambridge (by way of King's College, London) in 1846. In 1850 he was second Wrangler (second to Besant; the third and fourth were Wostenholme and Hayward). Watson was very active as a founder of societies; in particular he helped to found the Alpine Club in 1857. One would like to be able to claim that he was a founder-member of our own Society, but the evidence for this is exceedingly frail, and he may in fact never have been a member at any time.f The three other mathematicians just mentioned certainly did join the Society, and if Watson did not do so then this was one of the few steps in life which Hayward and he failed to take in common, for both became fellows of their Cambridge colleges (Hayward was at St. John's), both were early members of the Alpine Club, both were assistant masters at Harrow School, and both became Fellows of the Royal Society. They married the sisters Emily and Marianne Rowe. They died, in 1903, still closely associated, within three weeks of each other. I have been unable to establish a definite link between Watson and the founding of the Society. However, Mr. T. S. Blakeney of the Alpine Club tells me that there might be a link between Watson and another notable event of 1865, the first ascent of the Matterhorn. In 1855 Watson was a member of one of two parties who together made the second ascent of the Dufourspitze, the highest point of Monte Rosa. It is just possible that a guide in the other party may have been the elder one of the two Taugwalders who were with Whymper on that tragic occasion ten years later, and who alone with him survived it.

@article{kendall1966branching, abstract = {The term " branching process " appears to have been coined by A. N. Kolmogorov and N. A. Dmitriev [30] in 1947 to describe the stochastic processes which arise when the theory of probability is introduced into population mathematics, but the subject is much older than one might suppose from this fact, and goes back nearly one hundred years. The early history of the theory of branching processes centres round the figure of the Reverend Henry William Watson, clergyman, mathe- matician and alpinist. An account of his activities brings to life the kind of world in which our Society was founded. Watson was born in 1827 and entered Trinity College, Cambridge (by way of King's College, London) in 1846. In 1850 he was second Wrangler (second to Besant; the third and fourth were Wostenholme and Hayward). Watson was very active as a founder of societies; in particular he helped to found the Alpine Club in 1857. One would like to be able to claim that he was a founder-member of our own Society, but the evidence for this is exceedingly frail, and he may in fact never have been a member at any time.f The three other mathematicians just mentioned certainly did join the Society, and if Watson did not do so then this was one of the few steps in life which Hayward and he failed to take in common, for both became fellows of their Cambridge colleges (Hayward was at St. John's), both were early members of the Alpine Club, both were assistant masters at Harrow School, and both became Fellows of the Royal Society. They married the sisters Emily and Marianne Rowe. They died, in 1903, still closely associated, within three weeks of each other. I have been unable to establish a definite link between Watson and the founding of the Society. However, Mr. T. S. Blakeney of the Alpine Club tells me that there might be a link between Watson and another notable event of 1865, the first ascent of the Matterhorn. In 1855 Watson was a member of one of two parties who together made the second ascent of the Dufourspitze, the highest point of Monte Rosa. It is just possible that a guide in the other party may have been the elder one of the two Taugwalders who were with Whymper on that tragic occasion ten years later, and who alone with him survived it.}, added-at = {2015-07-23T19:41:51.000+0200}, author = {Kendall, David G.}, biburl = {https://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/204624216e0167cb56d730a79643c2f87/peter.ralph}, description = {Branching Processes Since 1873}, doi = {10.1112/jlms/s1-41.1.385}, eprint = {http://jlms.oxfordjournals.org/content/s1-41/1/385.full.pdf+html}, interhash = {6d7ac062baeae4b263f15ad8f1587e43}, intrahash = {04624216e0167cb56d730a79643c2f87}, journal = {Journal of the London Mathematical Society}, keywords = {branching_processes history review}, number = 1, pages = {385-406}, timestamp = {2015-07-23T19:41:51.000+0200}, title = {Branching Processes Since 1873}, url = {http://jlms.oxfordjournals.org/content/s1-41/1/385.short}, volume = {s1-41}, year = 1966 }