This formed the basis of an 850 page report that I published in 1858, saving countless thousands of lives by prompting major reforms in hospital practice.
I helped to establish the International Statistical Congress and served as a data consultant to the US Army in the American Civil War.
I also invented the polar area diagram and pioneered the infographic.
I was elected to the Royal Statistical Society [and here’s a big clue…] becoming the first female member at the age of 38.
I died a legend amongst statisticians in 1910.
I am, of course, FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE: MATHEMATICIAN.
Yes, Florence Nightingale — the Lady with the Lamp. It ought to be the Lady with the Logarithm. She saved far more lives by her grasp of numbers than by her gift for nursing. And she put data at the heart of healthcare as we know it today.
So throw out your textbooks, I’m correcting the record. Florence Nightingale is henceforth the patron saint of mathematics. And I’m paying my personal tribute by drawing out four lessons from her story for maths educators today.