Also, as a physicist I'm disappointed that the paper asserts that physicists disdained statistics in 1903. For the most part, statistical mechanics was develope

Also, as a physicist I'm disappointed that the paper asserts that physicists disdained statistics in 1903. For the most part, statistical mechanics was developed in the late 1800s! Sure, but Boltzmann's ideas were famously controversial at the time. I don't think they represent a good measure of mainstream practice at the time.