Disciplining statistics : demography and vital statistics in France and England, 1830-1885 / Libby Schweber.

Durham ; London : Duke University Press, [2006], ©2006.

277 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [227]-272) and index.

The struggle for disciplinary recognition: why "invent" a discipline in nineteenth-century France? -- The "invention" of demography, 1853/1855 -- The neglect of demography, 1855/1867 -- The re-invention of demography, 1867/1878 -- The institutionalization of vital statistics in England: how to "secure" a discipline in nineteenth-century England -- The invention of vital statistics, 1830/1837 -- Vital statistics as an instrument of social reform -- The institutionalization of demography in France: how to "secure" a discipline in nineteenth-century France -- Discipline formation at last -- Limits to institutionalization -- The struggle to retain disciplinary recognition: how to "defend" a discipline in nineteenth-century England -- The challenge to vital statistics -- Institutional transformations and the introduction of disciplinary specialization.