I know nothing about the two authors of this paper, but when talking about statistics and physics, the first two names coming to my mind are Delbrück and Luria,

I know nothing about the two authors of this paper, but when talking about statistics and physics, the first two names coming to my mind are Delbrück and Luria, founding fathers of molecular biology and had a physics background. Also Luria's A Slot Machine, a Broken Test Tube is a joyful autobiography about his journey into science.