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In step with the progress of science and culture

Statistical science is finding new applications in broad scientific and cultural arenas. For example, statistical methods are being used to solve problems regarding the authorship of ancient documents by analyzing the characteristics of style, and also to determine the era that homosapiens evolved from anthropoids using DNA base sequence data. In the near future the range of statistical theory and methodology is expected to broaden into an increasing number of fields in science and culture.

§1 Course of evolution through DNA

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The change in DNA, which occurs in the course of organic evolution, is a probabilistic phenomenon. Accordingly, a phylogenetic tree can be estimated by comparing and analysing the DNA of various organisms statistically.

As a result of morphological comparison, chimpanzees and gorillas were considered to be the nearest relatives, but as a result of the analysis of DNA, human beings and chimpanzees turned out to be the nearest relatives.

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§2 Quantitative analysis of ancient classics

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Statistical analysis of sentences is being conducted for the furtherance of linguistics, literature, philosophy, historical science, and the like. For example, numerous doubts remain in many ancient writings in terms of the time of writing, authorship, and so on.

To solve these questions, statistical methodology is being conducted utilising such information as the length of sentence, vocabulary, frequency of words, and frequency of parts of speech. One such study is the statistical analysis of the Genji-monogatari, which has been conducted in co-operation with linguists and scholars of Japanese literature.

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§3 Realm of influence of clans ascertained from ancient tomb shapes

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Assumptions on the realm of influence and group relations are being made by statistically analyzing the affinity of the shapes of ancient tombs of circular shape with rectangular footage.

Statistical analysis of ruins and earthenware is also being conducted, and a new subfield centering on a statistical method called quantitative archaeology is being created in archaeology.

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