Edwin Thompson Jaynes
Edwin Thompson Jaynes (July 5th, 1922 - April 30th, 1998) was Wayman Crow Distinguished Professor of Physics at Washington University in St. Louis. He wrote voluminously on statistical mechanics and on foundations of probability and statistical inference.A particular focus of his work was the construction of logical principles for assigning prior probability distributions; see the principle of maximum entropy, the principle of transformation groups and Laplace's principle of indifference.
His last book Probability Theory: The Logic of Science gathers together multiple threads of modern thinking regarding Bayesian probability and statistical inference, tying them into a powerful and coherent whole.
He also illuminates the inconsistencies, inefficiencies and limitations of other techniques, but builds his argument on comparison of results, side-stepping the rhetoric that has mired such discussion in the past.
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