Charles Edward Spearman, F. R. S. (1863-1945)

Abstract

The year 1995 marked the fiftieth anniversary of the death of Charles Edward Spearman, one of the comparatively few psychologists to have become a Fellow of the Royal Society. He made lasting contributions to the quantitative representation of the structure of human intelligence and abilities, in particular, as the originator of the statistical method now known as factor analysis, as well as the so-called Spearman-Brown prophecy formula for assessing the reliability of psychological tests. But, somewhat ironically, he is best remembered for what he considered a minor aspect of his work - the rank correlation measure which also bears his name. The aim of our essay is twofold: first, to augment (and in some instances correct) details given in previous biographical sketches' with new material collected from family members and other sources; and secondly to commemorate the life and work of one of the most influential international figures in British psychology.