Gosset as Student: the probable error of a mean

What changed

Small-sample uncertainty could be calibrated using the estimated rather than known variance.

Scientific scope

William Sealy Gosset's 1908 paper under pseudonym Student; later t-test formalization and broader robustness theory separate.

Evidence

The linked sources identify this contribution and its scope. WRS has not independently reconstructed the scientific claims. The record is the 1908 paper published under the pseudonym Student. Later formalizations, tables, hypothesis-testing conventions and generalizations are separate.

Contributors

• William Sealy Gosset · SCIENCE: Named source author of the scoped work; individual effort shares are not measured.

• Student, The Probable Error of a Mean
• MIT OpenCourseWare copy of Gosset’s 1908 Student paper

Provisional WRS assessment, edition 2026-10-16.1. Independent expert calibration is pending. This grade does not certify correctness or assign ownership.

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