Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letter
  • Published:

Significant Figures of Numbers in Statistical Tables

Abstract

IT is a well-known fact that most numbers in statistical tables start with a small digit. For example, in population tables almost one third of the entries begin with the digit 1. The same holds true for most tables of the type occurring in the World's Almanac.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Benford, Frank, Proc. Amer. Phil. Soc., 78, 551 (1938).

    Google Scholar 

  2. Nature, in the press.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

GOUDSMIT, S., FURRY, W. Significant Figures of Numbers in Statistical Tables. Nature 154, 800–801 (1944). https://doi.org/10.1038/154800a0

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/154800a0

This article is cited by

Comments

By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing