Editorial preface

Abstract

This special issue of the Review marks the centenary of the birth of Roy Geary — Ireland's greatest statistician — who was born in Drumcondra, Dublin on 11 April, 1896 and died on 8 February, 1983. It is the third occasion upon which the Review has acknowledged the life and work of Geary. In the April issue of 1976, the Review celebrated Geary's 80th birthday with an article by John Spencer on Geary's scientific work. That publication also included an invaluable list of Geary's published work up to 1976. Shortly after Geary's death, in the April 1983 issue, the Review published a warm appreciation by John Spencer and updated his published output from 1977 to1983. It is a remarkable testimony to Geary's zest for work that in the last seven years of his long and productive life he published 16 papers. Many a researcher would like to publish as many in a lifetime! In 1993, on the 10th anniversary of Geary's death, the Review published a highly informative account of Geary's life and personality by John Spencer. In the same issue, Kieran Kennedy wrote eloquently of Geary's time at the ESRI.