-Graunt's Mortality Tables

Innovative and accurate visualization of information begins with the collection and presentation of underlying data sources. By the 1660s, European thinkers had begun the systematic collection and analysis of social data in a field now identified as “political arithmetic.” John Graunt (1620-1674) pioneered this area of study by making statistical estimates and projections based on “Bills of mortality,” which were records of weekly death statistics. One of Graunt’s most significant contributions was the creation of life or mortality tables that probabilistically calculated life expectancy using vital records like the bills of mortality. On display in this text edited by Charles Henry Hull (b. 1864) are the mortality records used by Graunt and his initial life tables.

Lehigh University Catalog Record: https://asa.lib.lehigh.edu/Record/146470

A version of this text has been digitized and is available through the Internet Archive.

Sir William Petty (1623-1687).
The Economic Writings of Sir William Petty, Together with the Observations upon the Bills of Mortality, More Probably by Captain John Graunt. Vol. 2.
Cambridge: The University Press, 1899.