Studies in the history of probability and statistics XLII. Further details of contacts between Boscovich and Simpson in June 1760

Abstract

SUMMARY In a recent paper Stigler (1984) described a manuscript fragment giving Thomas Simpson's solution to a least absolute deviations regression problem which Ruggiero (Roger) Boscovich had posed to him. In this paper we present evidence that Boscovich received Simpson's solution in person in June 1760. We also note that the second problem discussed by Stigler is closely related to a two-dimensional generalization of the least absolute deviations problem and that two instances of this third problem may be found in the work of Pierre de Fermat.