Emil J. Gumbel's last course on the "Statistical theory of extreme values'': a conversation with Tuncel M. Yegulalp

GUMBEL. Eponym in mathematical statistics for the first type extreme value distribution and the copula that is both of extreme value and Archimedean kind. Hydrologists appreciate Emil J. Gumbel as a pioneer in promoting non-normal distributions in their field. Historians rank him among the most influential German intellectuals of the Weimar Republic. He disclosed secret societies that destabilized the Weimar Republic and used statistical methods to document political murders and to reveal a biased legal system. He was the first professor who lost his position for his political ideals and his stand against the national socialistic party, his books were banned and burned. Stripped of his nationality in 1933 he immigrated to France. In 1940 he escaped to the USA and settled in New York, where he was appointed Adjunct Professor at Columbia University, Department of Industrial Engineering, in 1953. We spoke with Tuncel M. Yegulalp --Professor emeritus of Mining Engineering at Columbia University-- about Emil J. Gumbel's last course on the "Statistical Theory of Extreme Values'' back in 1964.     «

GUMBEL. Eponym in mathematical statistics for the first type extreme value distribution and the copula that is both of extreme value and Archimedean kind. Hydrologists appreciate Emil J. Gumbel as a pioneer in promoting non-normal distributions in their field. Historians rank him among the most influential German intellectuals of the Weimar Republic. He disclosed secret societies that destabilized the Weimar Republic and used statistical methods to document political murders and to reveal a bias...     »