A short history of algebraic statistics

Polynomials and ratios of polynomials appear in statistics and probability under various forms, in model representations as well as in inferential procedures. Algebraic geometry studies (ratios of) polynomials and the zeros set of systems of polynomial equations. Algebraic statistics uses techniques from (real) algebraic geometry, and commutative algebra, geometric combinatorics, ... to gain insight into the structure and properties of statistical models and to advise in model analysis. This, in turn, may prompt research in algebraic geometry.

(Published in Metrika 2009 69:397-418)