On March 28, 2013, the world lost a person whom many consider to be a major contributor to the world of industrial statistics: George E. P. Box. Relatively unknown outside the world of statistics, Box was certainly very well known by those who have studied or practiced industrial statistics.

His death at the age of 88 followed only nine months later by the death of another notable in statistics, Genichi Taguchi (see the article, “The Legacies of Genichi Taguchi”). As will be seen below, Box and Taguchi were also statistical sparring partners.

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