---
title: "B. Harris"
type: "entity"
entity_kind: "person"
status: "hub"
canonical_name: "B. Harris"
aliases: []
first_seen: "2026-08-07T00:00:00.000Z"
writer_model: "claude-sonnet-5"
connects_to: ["Chao1 richness estimator","occupancy problems","asymptotic bounds","jackknife estimator","statistics of the unseen"]
seek_code_commit: "649b1a4"
---


Author of "Determining bounds on integrals with applications to cataloging
problems" (*Annals of Mathematical Statistics* 30, 1959), an asymptotic
occupancy-bound result — only the initial "B." is confirmed by the sources
read so far in this vault, so the full given name is unconfirmed. He matters
to this vault as the direct mathematical ancestor of the Chao1
species-richness estimator: Anne Chao's 1984 paper states plainly "The method
is similar to that taken by Harris (1959)" and builds her estimator of
expected unobserved-class count directly on his approach, a lineage
(Harris 1959 → Cobb & Harris 1966 → Burnham & Overton 1978/79 → Chao 1984)
this vault had not previously recorded. Harris's own 1959 paper has not yet
been read directly in this vault — this hub rests on Chao's citation of him,
not on his own primary text.

## References
- [[claim-chao-1984-estimator-extends-harris-1959-occupancy-bound]]
- Captures: 2026-08-07 (hub built; cited within Chao 1984, own paper unread)