[1958-1960] [1961-1964] [1965-1969] [1970-1987]
History of the Polish Biometric Society 1958-1960
On a visit to Poland in April 1958, Professor Jerzy Spława-Neyman, authorized by the Board of the Biometric Society, made a proposal to the Second Department of the Polish Academy of Sciences that a society for biometrics be established in Poland. In seeking to establish scientific contacts with Polish biometricians, Spława-Neyman did not find a vacuum, but a ready-formed group with clearly defined interests, whose moving spirit was Julian Perkal, a professor at the University of Wrocław. On 8 October 1948, Hugo Steinhaus had begun a Tuesday seminar on applications of mathematics, focused mainly on applications in the life sciences, particularly in anthropology, biology, geology, medicine and agriculture. He initially gave the seminars himself, but soon produced students and successors in the persons of Józef Łukaszewicz, Julian Perkal and Stefan Zubrzycki. At the end of the 1950s a group of local mathematicians and biologists began to form, centered around Perkal. This group included the mathematicians Józef Łukaszewicz, Stefan Zubrzycki, Franciszek Szczotka, Hubert Szczotka, Jerzy Kucharczyk, Anna Bartkowiakowa and Jan Sekuła, the anthropologist Adam Wanke, the medic Tadeusz Bogdanik, the botanist Krzysztof Rostański, and the forestry scientist Boleslaw Rutkowski.
Following initial discussions between Spława-Neyman and representatives of the Second Department of the Polish Academy of Sciences, the secretariat of that Department entrusted to Professor Julian Perkal the task of setting up a society for biometrics in Poland. It was initially established as a section of the Polish Copernicus Society of Naturalists, an organization that boasted a rich tradition. After nearly a year of preparation, on February 19-21, 1959, a general organizational meeting of the section was held at the Mathematics Institute of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Wrocław (ul. Kopernika 18). The first plenary meeting was opened by Julian Perkal at 9 o’clock on 19 February 1959. A. Bant welcomed the participants on behalf of the Copernicus Society, and Bronisław Knaster wished them fruitful deliberations on behalf of the Mathematics and Natural Sciences Section of Wrocław Scientific Society. A list of Polish and foreign visitors who could not attend the conference was read out. A scientific talk was given by Hugo Steinhaus. The meeting was attended by about 100 people, including Anna Bartkowiakowa, Maciej Czarnowski, Jan Czekanowski, Marek Fisz, Bronisław Knaster, Józef Łukaszewicz, Edward Niedokos, Wiktor Oktaba, Mikołaj Olekiewicz, Julian Perkal, Hugo Steinhaus, Adam Wanke and Stefan Zubrzycki. All of Poland’s major research centers were represented. Four plenary lectures were delivered. The first was given by Jan Czekanowski from Poznań, who spoke about the achievements of the Polish school of anthropology. On the second day of the conference plenary talks were given by Mikołaj Olekiewicz from Lublin and Marek Fisz from Warsaw, who discussed the concept of homogeneity of alternative characteristics and certain non-parametric tests for the k-sample problem. On the third day Julian Perkal gave a lecture on multivariate analysis. Proceedings also took place separately in groups devoted to anthropology, dendrometry, medicine, and experimental design and analysis. In total 35 reports were made. This large number was evidence of the need for a forum for joint scientific meetings to enable the exchange of ideas and experiences.
On the last day of the meeting, 38 persons signed declarations of membership. It was resolved to grant all of them the title of founding member. The meeting elected the Management Board of the Biometric Section, composed of Julian Perkal (chairman), Franciszek Szczotka (secretary) and Józef Łukaszewicz (treasurer), as well as a Scientific Council, which consisted of Maciej Czarnowski (Kraków, later Wrocław), Halina Milicerowa (Warsaw), Wiktor Oktaba (Lublin) and Adam Wanke (Wrocław). Professor Oktaba needs no introduction. Maciej Czarnowski was a forestry scientist, and Halina Milicerowa and Adam Wanke were anthropologists.
History of the Polish Biometric Society 1961-1964
In early 1961 the Biometric Section of the Polish Copernicus Society of Naturalists became the Polish Biometric Society. Its charter was approved by the state authorities on May 26, 1961. The purpose of the Society was the practice and dissemination of biometric methods, that is, mathematical methods in the biological and biotechnological sciences. The Society decided to pursue this aim through cooperation among mathematicians and natural scientists of different specialties, by organizing meetings, courses, seminars, conventions and conferences, by the publication of printed works and materials, and by the promotion of biometric methods through publications, lectures and consultations. The charter stated that the Society would be based in Wrocław. Even as early as 1961 the Society was showing signs of vigorous activity: it organized a colloquium on homogeneity, a course in statistics for physicians, and two meetings at which papers were presented.
On February 16-17, 1962 a second biometric conference was held in Wrocław, at the Mathematics Institute of the Polish Academy of Sciences (ul. Kopernika 18), attended by about 70 members. The proceedings took place in two sections, in which 16 papers and reports were delivered. The first General Meeting of members of the PBS was held on February 17, 1962. The General Meeting approved the Society’s charter and some organizational changes, and elected a Management Board consisting of Julian Perkal (chairman), Adam Wanke (vice-chairman), Hubert Szczotka (secretary), Anna Waliszko (treasurer), Bożena Płonka (deputy secretary) and Zygmunt Welon (deputy treasurer), as well as an Audit Committee composed of Józef Łukaszewicz (chairman), Tadeusz Nowakowski and Noemi Wigdorowicz-Makowerowa. The General Meeting also elected the members of the Scientific Council, who were Jan Czekanowsk (Poznań; chairman), Tadeusz Bogdanik (Białystok), Walery Bogusławski (Gdańsk), Mieczysław Choynowski (Warsaw), Maciej Czarnowski (Kraków), Bronisław Knaster (Wrocław), Halina Milicerowa (Warsaw), Wiktor Oktaba (Lublin), Julian Perkal (Wrocław), Kazimierz Petrusewicz (Warsaw), Wanda Stęślicka-Mydlarska (Toruń) and Adam Wanke (Wrocław).
A few words should be said about Jan Czekanowski. He was a world-renowned scientist who introduced modern statistical methods into anthropological research. He was a professor at the University of Lwów (Lviv) and later in Poznań. He was a graduate in anthropology, medicine and mathematics. He originated the well-known diagram method for hierarchical clustering, and wrote a textbook titled "Outline of statistical methods in applications to anthropology" published by the Warsaw Scientific Society in 1913. This was the first statistical textbook written in Polish to describe modern methods of analysis of empirical data and proper interpretation of the results. Printed just two years after the appearance of the world's first textbook of modern mathematical statistics, George Yule's An Introduction to the Theory of Statistics, it played an important role in the dissemination of biometrics among Polish scholars during the interwar period.
In the 1962-1963 academic year the PBS ran seminars in biometrics at three centers - Lublin, Warsaw and Wrocław. Topics discussed related to analysis of variance, taxonomic methods, hypothesis testing, mathematical genetics and numerical methods.
Noting the declining attendance at these meetings, the PBS Management Board decided to establish a minimum level of knowledge among its members by publishing relevant instructional materials. The first volume of these appeared as Listy Biometryczne ("Biometrical Letters") No. 1-2, dated 1964. The journal’s editor was Julian Perkal, and its secretary was Hubert Szczotka. An editorial stated that: "Biometrical Letters is intended to reach, primarily, members of the Polish Biometric Society. The purpose of this journal is to spread and deepen knowledge of biometrics, that is, knowledge of and ability to apply mathematical methods in the biological sciences. We will therefore publish methodological articles and research papers in various fields of biometrics. The first of these are intended to introduce the existing methods of biometrics to the reader. The next are to describe new biometric methods and interesting creative uses of mathematical and statistical methods in the biological sciences. As an organ of the Polish Biometric Society, Biometrical Letters will also inform the reader about the Society’s life and work, and in particular its conventions, conferences and seminars. If it proves possible, we will publish reports on such events." The article ends with the words: "We hope that our journal will contribute to the spread of biometric knowledge among Polish scholars, and to the development of its methods and applications." The first volume of Biometrical Letters contains the first part of an article by Julian Perkal titled "The probabilistic basis of biometrics". The remainder of this article appears in No. 3-5, also dated 1964.
On February 12-13, 1964, again at the Mathematics Institute of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Wrocław (ul. Kopernika 18), another biometrical conference was held. The second day of the conference saw the second General Meeting of members of the Society, at which a new Management Board was elected, consisting of Adam Wanke (chairman), Halina Milicerowa (vice-chair), Stefan Zubrzycki (secretary), Anna Waliszko (treasurer), Jan Sekuła and Zygmunt Welon, as well as an Audit Committee composed of Józef Łukaszewicz (chairman), Tadeusz Nowakowski and Noemi Wigdorowicz-Makowerowa. The General Meeting also elected a new Scientific Council: Jan Czekanowski (Poznań; chairman), Tadeusz Bogdanik (Białystok), Mieczyslaw Choynowski (Warsaw), Maciej Czarnowski (Kraków), Bronisław Knaster (Wrocław), Józef Łukaszewicz (Wrocław), Halina Milicerowa (Warsaw), Wiktor Oktaba (Lublin), Julian Perkal (Wrocław), Hugo Steinhaus (Wrocław), Wanda Stęślicka-Mydlarska (Toruń) and Adam Wanke (Wrocław). It was decided that the Society would hold scientific conference in late January or early February of each year.
A few words about the new Chairman of the PBS Management Board. Professor Adam Wanke was born on 24 December 1906 in Lwów (Lviv). He graduated in anthropology from the University of Lwów, as a student of Jan Czekanowski. He became a professor at the University of Wrocław, and head of the Anthropology Department of the Polish Academy of Sciences. He created a somatic typology of men, distinguishing four types of body, which were compared to the shapes of the letters A, V, H and I. Students of the anthropologist called these types "the four letters of Adam Wanke". He also originated two new statistical methods of classification in anthropology.
History of the Polish Biometric Society 1965-1969
The Society continued to develop consistently and successfully, in spite of some inopportune events. On 20 July 1965 Professor Jan Czekanowski - prominent anthropologist, PBS founding member and chairman of its Scientific Council - died in Szczecin. The chair of the Scientific Council was taken over by Halina Milicerowa, professor of anthropology at the College of Physical Education in Warsaw, with interests in applications of anthropology in sports and physical education. On September 17, 1965, Julian Perkal died in Wrocław aged 52. He was a founding member of the PBS, the first chairman of its Management Board, and editor of Biometrical Letters. The main idea behind his work was the practical application of mathematical methods in the study of biology in the broadest sense, and in this area he left behind a considerable scientific and organizational legacy. He was the real creator of the Society and the mainspring of its activity.
In 1966, starting from volume 12-15 of Biometrical Letters, there was a change to the journal's staff. The PBS Management Board appointed Stefan Zubrzycki editor and Jerzy Wawrzynek editorial secretary. The volume includes the first list of PBS members, supplements to which appear in volumes 16-18 (1967) and 23-25 (1969).
The next biometrical conference took place at the Anthropology Department of the Polish Academy of Sciences, at ul. Kuźnicza 35, Wrocław, on February 12-13, 1967. A total of 16 papers were delivered. On the second day of the conference the third General Meeting of members of the PBS was took place. This elected a new Management Board, composed of Adam Wanke (chairman), Stefan Zubrzycki (vice-chairman), Józef Łukaszewicz (secretary), Anna Waliszko (treasurer), Franciszek Szczotka and Jan Sekuła, as well as an Audit Committee consisting of Tadeusz Bogdanik, Wiktor Oktaba and Tadeusz Caliński. Three new members were also elected to the Scientific Council: Zygmunt Nawrocki, Mieczysław Warmus and Stefan Zubrzycki. Halina Milicerowa continued to chair the Council.
On February 12-13, 1968, the next PBS conference took place in Wrocław, where 10 papers were delivered. At the next conference, again held in Wrocław on June 10, 1969, there were 14 papers delivered.
On December 18, 1968, Professor Stefan Zubrzycki died in Wrocław at the age of 41. He was a founding member of the PBS and vice-chairman of its Management Board, as well as the editor of Biometrical Letters. On May 19, 1969, the Management Board elected Józef Łukaszewicz to the position of vice-chairman, and Franciszek Szczotka was appointed editor of the journal. The Management Board was joined by Zygmunt Welon, who also took over the role of editorial secretary.
History of the Polish Biometric Society 1970-1987
On February 10, 1970, the fourth General Meeting of members of the PBS was held in Wrocław. A Management Board was elected composed of Adam Wanke (chairman), Mieczysław Warmus (vice-chairman), Zygmunt Welon (secretary), Anna Waliszko (treasurer), Tadeusz Caliński and Jerzy Kucharczyk, and an Audit Committee composed of Józef Łukaszewicz (chairman), Tadeusz Bogdanik and Jan Sekuła. The new Scientific Council consisted of Józef Łukaszewicz (chairman), Tadeusz Bogdanik, Tadeusz Caliński, Maciej Czarnowski, Zbigniew Kędzierski, Bronisław Knaster, Halina Milicerowa, Zygmunt Nawrocki, Wiktor Oktaba, Franciszek Szczotka, Adam Wanke and Mieczysław Warmus.
In 1970, an initiative was launched whereby the Polish Biometric Society, together with the Crop Sciences Committee of the Polish Academy of Sciences, would organize September conferences in biometrics at various places in Poland, and the papers presented at the conferences would be printed. The initiator and academic organizer of these conferences was Professor Wiktor Oktaba. The first was held in Lublin on September 19-30, 1970. This began a series of meetings which would take place under the name Methodological Colloquium of Agricultural Biometrics. Papers from each Colloquium were printed jointly by the PBS and the Crop Sciences Committee. From 1970 to 1994 there were 24 volumes of conference materials published under this title. These volumes were produced by an editorial committee composed of:
- (1970–1982) Wiktor Oktaba (chairman), Eugeniusz Bilski, Tadeusz Caliński and Witold Klonecki,
- (1983–1990) Wiktor Oktaba (chairman), Tadeusz Caliński, Mirosław Krzyśko, Leszek Malicki and Jan Sekuła,
- (1991–1994) Wiktor Oktaba (chairman), Bronisław Ceranka, Mirosław Krzyśko, Leszek Malicki and Jan Sekuła.
From 1995 the name of the conferences was changed to Biometrical Colloquium, being organized independently by the Polish Biometric Society. The volumes containing published conference materials were also renamed Biometrical Colloquium, becoming the second official journal of the Polish Biometric Society after Biometrical Letters. In 2007 the journal changed its name to Colloquium Biometricum, and continues to appear under that title today. Papers are published in English only. The editorial staff has consisted of:
- (1995–2000) Wiktor Oktaba (editor-in-chief), Bronisław Ceranka, Mirosław Krzyśko, Leszek Malicki, Stanisław Mejza, Tadeusz Przybysz,
- (2001–2007) Wiktor Oktaba (editor-in-chief), Mirosława Wesołowska-Janczarek (deputy editor), Joanna Tarasińska (secretary), Barbara Bogacka (London), Bronisław Ceranka (Poznań), Pavel Flak (Nitra, Slovakia), Wojtek Krzanowski (Exeter, UK), Mirosław Krzyśko (Poznań), Leszek Malicki (Lublin; died June 23, 2003), Stanisław Mejza (Poznań), Tadeusz Przybysz (Lublin; died November 21, 2007),
- (2008–2009) Wiktor Oktaba (editor-in-chief), Mirosława Wesołowska-Janczarek (deputy editor), Joanna Tarasińska (secretary), Barbara Bogacka (London), Bronisław Ceranka (Poznań), Pavel Flak (Nitra, Slovakia), Krystyna Katulska (Poznań), Andrzej Kornacki (Lublin), Wojtek Krzanowski (Exeter, UK), Mirosław Krzyśko (Poznań).
On September 6, 2009, Professor Wiktor Oktaba died in Lublin. He was a founding member of the PBS, a member of its Scientific Council since its inception, and its chairman from 1976 onwards; he also served as academic organizer of all of the biometrical colloquia, and as editor-in-chief of Colloquium Biometricum from its launch in 1970. His death was a painful loss for the Society.
Since 2010, the editor-in-chief of Biometricum Colloquium has been Mirosława Wesołowska-Janczarek. The remainder of the editorial team is unchanged, except that the position of deputy editor is not filled.
We return now to 1971. On March 27 of that year, Adam Wanke died in Wrocław. He was a founding member of the PBS and served as chairman of its Management Board. Following this painful loss, on May 28, 1971, an Extraordinary General Meeting of members of the Society was held in Warsaw to elect a new chair of the Management Board. Members elected Maciej Czarnowski, a forestry scientist and ecologist and an assistant professor at the University of Wrocław.
On February 25, 1972, Professor Hugo Steinhaus died in Wrocław. He was co-founder of the Wrocław school of mathematics, a founding member of the PBS, and a member of its Scientific Council from 1964 to 1967.
At the scientific conference held in Wrocław on February 3-4, 1972, a total of 12 papers were delivered.
The next biometrical conference took place in Wrocław on February 11-12, 1973. Again 12 papers were delivered. On the second day of the conference the fifth General Meeting of members of the Society took place, electing a new Management Board which included Maciej Czarnowski (chairman), Paweł Bergman (secretary) and Anna Bartkowiakowa (treasurer); sources give no information about other members elected. The chairman of the Audit Committee was Czesław Kania; again no other information is available about other members. The Scientific Council consisted of Tadeusz Caliński (chairman), Tadeusz Bogdanik, Maciej Czarnowski, Zbigniew Kędzierski, Józef Łukaszewicz, Halina Milicerowa, Wiktor Oktaba, Czesław Platt, Franciszek Szczotka, Mieczysław Warmus and Zygmunt Welon.
On April 23-24, 1974, a conference was organized in Wrocław by the PBS and the Computing Centre of the University of Wrocław. A total of 19 papers were delivered.
The next biometrical conference took place in Wrocław on January 25-26, 1976. There were 15 papers delivered, and on the second day the sixth General Meeting of members of the Society elected a Management Board consisting of Jan Sekuła (chairman), Zygmunt Welon (vice-chairman), Hubert Szczotka (secretary), Anna Bartkowiakowa (treasurer), Mirosław Krzyśko and Adam Łomnicki, and an Audit Committee consisting of Czesław Kania (chairman), Adam Haleczko and Eugeniusz Malec. A new Scientific Council was also elected, composed of Wiktor Oktaba (chairman), Tadeusz Bogdanik, Tadeusz Caliński, Maciej Czarnowski, Adam Łomnicki, Józef Łukaszewicz, Czesław Platt, Jan Sekuła, Franciszek Szczotka, Teofil Szulga, Mieczysław Warmus and Zygmunt Welon.
Adam Łomnicki is an ecologist, a retired professor of the Jagiellonian University, and full member of the Polish Academy of Sciences. He is the author of the textbook Wprowadzenie do statystyki dla przyrodników ("Introduction to statistics for natural scientists"), whose fourth edition, revised and expanded, was published by PWN (Warsaw) in 2010. Teofil Szulga is a professor at the Ludwik Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Wrocław.
Another PBS conference was held in Wrocław on January 31 and February 1, 1977, devoted to factor analysis and its applications. A total of 11 papers were delivered. The next conference, on January 30-31, 1978, again in Wrocław, was devoted to analysis of variance and its applications.
On January 28–29, 1979, another conference was held in Wrocław, devoted to discriminant analysis and its applications in the life sciences. There were 11 papers delivered. On the second day the seventh General Meeting of members of the Society elected a new Management Board composed of Jan Sekuła (chairman), Mirosław Krzyśko (vice-chairman), Hubert Szczotka (secretary), Anna Bartkowiakowa (treasurer), Edward Niedokos and Zygmunt Welon, and an Audit Committee composed of Czesław Kania (chairman), Bogumił Grala and Adam Haleczko. Also elected was a new Scientific Council consisting of Wiktor Oktaba (chairman), Tadeusz Caliński, Czesław Kania, Mirosław Krzyśko, Józef Łukaszewicz, Marian Piech, Czesław Platt, Tadeusz Przybysz, Jan Sekuła, Franciszek Szczotka, Mieczysław Warmus and Zygmunt Welon. The General Meeting also adopted the following two resolutions:
- The General Meeting expresses its appreciation and thanks to Professor Wiktor Oktaba for his contribution to the development of biometrics through his organization of the Colloquia in Agricultural Biometrics.
- The General Meeting gives thanks to the authorities of Wrocław Agricultural College for their assistance in organizing the Society’s annual conferences.
On February 4-5, 1980, a conference was held in Wrocław devoted to applications of statistical methods in the life sciences. A total of 10 papers were delivered. On February 2-3, 1981, again in Wrocław, the twentieth anniversary conference was held, at which 17 papers were delivered.
On February 7-9, 1983, an annual conference took place devoted to software for statistical methods. The meeting took place in the building of the Land Reclamation Department at Wrocław Agricultural College, Plac Grunwaldzki 24. There were 37 papers delivered. On the afternoon of February 7 the eighth General Meeting of members of the Society took place, at which it was resolved to add to section 24 of the Society’s charter a new paragraph d): "The Scientific Council acts as the editorial board of the Society’s publications." This change to the charter gained official approval on April 28, 1983. Another resolution stated that “Members of the editorial staff of Biometrical Letters are appointed and dismissed by the Scientific Council in consultation with the Management Board.” A new Management Board was elected consisting of Mirosław Krzyśko (chairman), Anna Bartkowiak (vice-chair), Krystyna Katulska (secretary), Hubert Szczotka (treasurer), Witold Kupść (deputy secretary) and Henryk Mikos (deputy treasurer), as well as an Audit Committee consisting of Czesław Kania (chairman), Wiesław Wagner and Zygmunt Welon. The new Scientific Council was composed of Wiktor Oktaba (chairman), Jerzy Baksalary, Anna Bartkowiak, Tadeusz Caliński, Radosław Kala, Mirosław Krzyśko, Marian Piech, Jan Sekuła and Franciszek Szczotka. Franciszek Szczotka informed the General Meeting that he had resigned from the position of editor-in-chief of Biometrical Letters as from January 1, 1983. Consequently, on February 8, 1983, a joint meeting of the new Management Board and Scientific Council took place, which appointed a new editorial staff of Biometrical Letters consisting of Radoslaw Kala (editor-in-chief), Jerzy Baksalary (deputy editor) and Hanna Chudzik (secretary). In 1984, Biometrical Letters Vol. XXI, No. 1 appeared (with the English name as its subtitle) under the auspices of the new editorial staff. The PBS Management Board obtained authorization from the chairman of the Central Office of Inspection of Press and Performances in Warsaw to publish Biometrical Letters as an official journal of the Society. The Academic Publishing House of Adam Mickiewicz University became the journal’s publisher.
On February 6–7, 1984, another PBS conference was held, this time in Poznań, organized together with Adam Mickiewicz University. The meeting took place at the University’s Collegium Novum building. There were 17 papers presented, and a social evening was organized on February 6 at the Carriage House in Czerniejewo.
In 1984, Henryk Mikos, a member of the PBS Management Board, died in Poznań.
On February 4-5, 1985, another conference was held in Poznań, again organized jointly with Adam Mickiewicz University, where 18 papers were delivered.
On a nomination of the PBS Management Board, Dr. Anna Bartkowiakowa was awarded a prize of the Polish Academy of Sciences for 1984.
The next biometrical conference was held in Poznań on February 2–3, 1986. On the second day the ninth General Meeting of members of the Society took place, electing a new Management Board consisting of Mirosław Krzyśko (chairman), Anna Bartkowiakowa (vice-chair), Krystyna Katulska (secretary), Ewa Krusińska (treasurer), Edward Niedokos (deputy secretary) and Stanisław Gnot (deputy treasurer), and an Audit Committee composed of Jan Suwała, Hubert Szczotka and Wiesław Wagner. The new Scientific Council consisted of Wiktor Oktaba (chairman), Tadeusz Caliński (vice-chairman), Jan Sekuła (secretary), Anna Bartkowiakowa, Stanisław Gnot, Radosław Kala, Mirosław Krzyśko, Edward Niedokos and Marian Piech.
A new editorial staff of Biometrical Letters was appointed from 1987. It was composed of Zygmunt Kaczmarek (editor-in-chief), Bronisław Ceranka (deputy editor) and Paweł Krajewski (secretary).