Book Description

This classic book retains its outstanding ongoing features and continues to provide readers with excellent background material necessary for a successful understanding of mathematical statistics.Chapter topics cover classical statistical inference procedures in estimation and testing, and an in-depth treatment of sufficiency and testing theory—including uniformly most powerful tests and likelihood ratios. Many illustrative examples and exercises enhance the presentation of material throughout the book.For a more complete understanding of mathematical statistics. ... Read more

Reviews (13)

book I used at Maryland
Hogg and Craig is one of my favorite texts. It is an intermediate text in mathematical statistics similar to Mood, Graybill and Boes. I took qualifying exams in mathematics for my Masters Degree in math at the University of Maryland in the early 1970s. One of the exams I took was in statistics. I had little formal training in statistics at the time. Hogg and Craig was the recommended text for the statistics exam. So I bought it and studied out of it on my own. It was very clear with excellent coverage of methods for deriving distributions for random variables and transformations of random variables. I passed my exams and got my highest grades on the statistics exam even though I had more training in abstract algebra. Hogg and Craig really helped. It has been revised since then to maintain currency with statistical developments but it still has maintained its clarity and usefulness.

Excellent in its day - but that day has passed
At the time of its debut (1958) this book was viewed as a fairly advanced treatment of probability and math stat. While it has been updated over the years, it has not kept pace with the rapid changes in the field. (Craig died in 1978!). For those with a bit integral of calculus (it is a math stat book), it is good for review and has some excellent problems (but any answers in the back of the book are simply numeric answers with no explanations). For the right class, it still could be a really good intro to math stat. Be warned - this book gives you nothing in the way of measure and probability but if you can buy it used and cheap, it is well worth having.

Old school textbook.
One of those little monochrome bound textbooks from the 1960's that you wish had never been written (i.e. the book explains statistical methods using mathematical jargon and symbols).

Unless you are a math major, who communicates in these terms, steer clear.

Not a good book.
This book is currently required for my intro. to stats course. I have found this book to be of no help at all. It breifly discusses the subjects with little or no structure; requiring you to use other references constantly.(Never a good idea in math where notation is almost never consistent!) Theorems/definitions are unclear and un-highlighted. Possibly the most frustrating aspect is the examples. Examples are given without even posing a question and the "solutions" to the examples are done with very little explanation or methodology. Also, the examples seem to be much easier than the excersises which have only a limited number of answers in the back of the book. I feel the text does not come close to preparing the reader for the excercises. As another reviewer suggested, this book could be useful to someone with experience and background in statistics, but for an introductory course, the book leaves out too many background details that it assumes the readers know. I am sure there are much better introductory books.

Introduction to Mathematical Statistics by Hogg and Craig
I worked with an earlier version of this text. The text is
geared for math majors. There are many practical examples;
however, the more theoretical examples are elusive at best.
Coverage of the basic laws of probability is good. The examples
dealing with continuous random variables require some prior
knowledge of intermediate calculus which should be no problem
for math majors or engineers. The book benefited me when I
took and passed the Fundamentals of Engineering Examination.
In addition, I've taught statistics several times.
This work is geared for the above-average student. In some
areas, it could be supplemented with the Schaum's Statistics
Outline. ... Read more

Reviews (9)

Great book for practical applications
I bought this book hoping to learn DOE using Taguchi Methods and apply what I learned to real life problems in my work. It was very helpful. Not only did it help me learn the methods I needed to perform my testing at work but I did it in only 8 days of reading. The book was very easy to read and the examples helped me understand everything I needed to know to apply this method to real situations. A great buy for anyone looking to learn Taguchi Methods.

An Introduction to More Effective Experimentation
The challenge that all research directors and senior scientists face is that virtually all scientists are originally trained to believe that the only proper way to conduct an experiment is to vary only one factor at a time while holding all other variables fixed. This belief, which can be shown mathematically to be totally incorrect, has been a drag on the scientific community for decades, causing experimental science to be much less productive than it should be. In fact, by properly designing experiments in which several factors are varied in a carefully thought out, predetermined pattern, much more information can be obtained with far fewer experiments.

What Dr. Roy has achieved in his book on experimental design is to clearly explain why this is so and to provide the tools which allows his readers to overcome their ingrained beliefs and adopt a more effective method of designing their own experimental programs.

Of particular interest is his discussion of experimental design using orthogonal arrays (Chapter 4) for it is in this part of the book that the full power of modern approaches to experimentation become most evident. Here, he illustrates how a set of as few as eight experiments can be used to determine how three presumable independent factors, such as time, temperature and concentration, can be studied to obtain detailed information not only on how each factor individually effects the quality of the final product, but also on the extent to which the factors interact.

Historically, learning this type of technique for designing experiments has been a daunting task since somewhat tedious mathematically manipulations are required for both the design of the experiment and the analyses of the resulting data. However, included with Dr. Roy's book is complete software which eliminates the need for the experimenter to either manually solve the handful of equations needed to extract the results in useful form, or to develop custom spreadsheets in an attempt to automate the process. The software is easy to use and includes all of the tables and data which are used in the book to illustrate the principles of experimental design. The software is also capable of assisting the experimenter in designing sets of up to eight concurrent experiments, rapidly analyzing the data and generating graphical and tabular presentations which greatly aid in the interpretation of the results.

This is an extremely useful book which can have a major beneficial effect on the productivity of any laboratory engaged in experimental process research such as crystal growth, chemical synthesis or manufacturing. By allowing the reader to overcome his innate aversion to varying more than one experimental factor at a time, the book makes it possible for the reader to become a much more productive scientist or engineer and become a role model for his coworkers to emulate.

Must have for Quality Control Professionals and Educators
First, I completely agree with all the good things mentioned in the other reviews, but wish to add the following comments:

1. The discussion group (usenet) hosted by Dr Roy is fantastic. If by chance you don't "get it" from reading the book, a simple question posted to the usenet frequently gets you an answer, often within a few hours (its a vocal crowd!!). Many times, the author himself responds to usenet questions. And, on at least one instance, after I repeatdly asked my question, he began exchanging emails with me, which then led to some pleasant phone disscussions.

2. User friendly software and support. See above.

3. Taguichi is frequently attacked by full blown Design of Experiments statistical types who miss the whole point. I strongly encourage all professionals interested in gauging quality control to try out his books and the free software downloads....

An excellent book with powerful software and support......

Reads like a winner, looks like a winner, performs likes a winner....... need I say more...

Auburn Alabama

User friendly
Dr.Roy's book is amazing. He has covered almost everything you need to know about the Taguchi method - even meticulous things. This book will suite both for beginners as well as for experts. The CD which comes along with this book is very helpful in understanding the concept behind the analysis with more than 50 examples. If at all you are looking for a book about Taguchi design of Experiments - I highly recommend one and all to buy Dr.Roy's book and benefit through his work.
I started as a beginner and now Iam an expert in Taguchi analysis - and the credit goes to Dr.Roy - he also helps personally in answering your questions.
Thank you very much Dr.Roy.
Three CHEERS to Dr.Roy!

Brief review of DOE using Taguchi approach by R. Roy
Dr. Roy has been able to translate into everyday language some of the most difficult concepts of the Taguchi methodology. Whereas the book does not provide the reader with much theoretical background, it doeas provide ample examples and practical approaches to the methodology. Excellent sections are the discussions about the OAs and the modified arrays as well as the ANOVA. The references to the CD ROM are well placed.

The shortcomings of the book are the very poor screens from the software package. In fact, in some cases they are unreadable. Another shortcoming is the absence of any discussion of tolerance design using the Taguchi methodology.

Overall: a good book for reference. ... Read more

Amazon.com

With Visual Explanations, Edward R. Tufte adds a third volume to his indispensable series on information display. The first, The Visual Display of Quantitative Information, which focuses on charts and graphs that display numerical information, virtually defined the field. The second, Envisioning Information, explores similar territory but with an emphasis on maps and cartography. Visual Explanations centers on dynamic data--information that changes over time. (Tufte has described the three books as being about, respectively, "pictures of numbers, pictures of nouns, and pictures of verbs.")

Like its predecessors, Visual Explanations is both intellectually stimulating and beautiful to behold. Tufte, a self-publisher, takes extraordinary pains with design and production. The book ranges through a variety of topics, including the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger (which could have been prevented, Tufte argues, by better information display on the part of the rocket's engineers), magic tricks, a cholera epidemic in 19th-century London, and the principle of using "the smallest effective difference" to display distinctions in data. Throughout, Tufte presents ideas with crystalline clarity and illustrates them in exquisitely rendered samples. ... Read more

Reviews (31)

examples where pictures really tell 10,000 words
In this third book by Tufte on graphics, he provides great examples through history where good pictures conveyed important information to decision makers and bad graphics left uncetainty and indecision. A great success story is the identification of the source of the cholera epidemic in London in the 1850s. With regard to the Challenger Space Shuttle, Tufte suggests that one good picture may have convinced the NASA engineers of the need to avoid launching at low temperatures. Great pictures, great examples and great advice are found throughout the book. You may not believe that graphs can be used to answer all scientific questions but Tufte will convince you that they are important and must be done right!

Delightful and Insightful
Tufte's third book concentrates on the communication of notions of change and difference, such as an explaination of processes or sequences of events.

One of the many delighful aspects of this book is the diverse and intriging sources of examples, ranging from 19th century bookplates and 20th century art to information kiosks and scientific visualisation. For me the most memorable section was his contrasting the visual displays presented to NASA advising them to abort the disasterous Challanger launch with Frost's investigation into the colera epidemic in 19th-century London. It might sound vague hand waving, but Tufte presents his ideas with incredible clarity and insight and his conclusions are applicable to a wide range of fields, from computer user interface designs to powerpoint presentations and scientific analysis of data.

You can probably guess I really enjoyed this book; as well as being engaging and informative it is beautifully written and stunningly designed. It's philisophic approach will not immediately appeal to everyone, but I enthusiasticly recommend it as essential reading for anyone who needs to communicate complex ideas visually.

For those of you interested in this subject area, I also recommend "Information Architects", edited by Richard Saul Wurman, which although more graphic design oriented has numerous excellent examples of the design processes behind good visual communication

Don't buy until you SEE it! You will be disappointed.
This book appeared fascinating to me. The book reviews appeared fascinating to me. But when I actually saw all of the pages inside I was really disappointed. Don't buy this one until you see it - you just may be disappointed too.

Learn how human information capacity affects your designs
An amazing book! While I'm not sure that it's worth giving up shelf space for, it's more than worth borrowing from your local library and reading.

The biggest things I pulled out of this were around information density and the capacities that humans have. This book provided me with a framework for looking at mediums of display to the user and to better understand how I can choose how much data and how to present it to best allow them to reason around it.

The examples are also beautifully produced and masterfully composed. The book itself is an amazing artifact!

Near the end, he talks about 'confections' and, while it was an interesting section, it was the one section of the book that it was difficult to pull out prescriptive guidance from.

Indispensable and Revealing Insights
Edward R. Tufte again raises the bar both on his scholarly treatment of how we portray visual information and on how books of value ought to me made.

His third book on information design, Visual Explanation: Images and Quantities, Evidence and Narrative is, in his words, "about pictures of verbs, the representation of mechanism and motion, process and dynamics, causes and effects, explanation and narrative."

Within this book, Mr. Tufte first tackles tough, fundamental issues related to quantity, scale, and magnitude. Determining if a visual representation is honest or accurate may, at first, not seem a vital skill, but Mr. Tufte clearly shows how data and information can be distorted or manipulated and offers sharp observations to help one see more clearly what is presented.

He addresses methods of presenting and analyzing data, using the now classic medical investigative work of John Snow and the fatal flawed decision making that resulting in the Challenger tragedy, to build a steady, compelling argument that there are right and wrong ways to show data.

A chapter on magic and designing disinformation is full of anecdotes, examples, and illustrations about the how's and why's of masking content and diverting attention.

Perhaps my favorite chapter is The Smallest Effective Difference, a challenging but insightful primer on using subtle but effective visual distinctions to create compelling visual information.

The long chapter about visual parallelism treats a complex subject by offering a plethora of examples, all explained with a terse elegance. Students of typography will take a special interest in Mr. Tufte's treatment of letterforms.

How we use and react to multiple images and how to effectively use multiples to evoke repetition, change, pattern, and surprise form the basis of the next chapter. Mr. Tufte again reminds readers that good design must take into account how, when, and even where information will be used.

The final chapter covers what Mr. Tufte has termed visual confections, that is an assembly of myriad visual events to convey a story, make comparisons, merge the real and imaginary. Digital artists should switch off their Macintosh computers until they have studied carefully this chapter, replete with superb illustrations and laser-intense commentary.

Mr. Tufte self-publishes his books because no commercial press would indulge his demands for perfection. His books are wonderful not just because of the information he presents but also because they represent the craft of bookmaking. The printing, binding, the acid-free paper, inks, the arrangement of words and images---these books are to treasure when so much is disposable and fleeting. ... Read more

Book Description

Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Cambridge, MA. Text provides formulas and procedures for determining the appropriate sample size for testing equality. Presents various statistical procedures, current regulatory requirements, methodology for design and analysis, and recent developments in clinical research. ... Read more

Book Description

Ensure your success! Purchase the value package textbook and Student Solutions manual for the price of the textbook alone!
That's a $32.95 savings!
(Set ISBN: 0471654930)

Textbook: Achieving a fine balance between the concepts and procedures of calculus, this applied Calculus text provides students with the solid background they need in the subject with a thorough understanding of its applications in a wide range of fields ? from biology to economics.

Key features of this innovative text include:

• The text is problem driven and features exceptional exercises based on real-world applications.
• The authors provide alternative avenues through which students can understand the material. Each topic is presented four ways: geometrically, numerically, analytically, and verbally.
• Students are encouraged to interpret answers and explain their reasoning throughout the book, which the author considers a unique concept compared to other books.
• Many of the real-world problems are open-ended, meaning that there may be more than one approach and more than one solution, depending on the student's analysis. Solving a problem often relies on the use of common sense and critical thinking skills. Students are encouraged to develop estimating and approximating skills.
• The book presents the main ideas of calculus in a clear, simple manner to improve students' understanding and encourage them to read the examples.
• Technology is used as a tool to help students visualize the concepts and learn to think mathematically. Graphics calculators, graphing software, or computer algebra systems perfectly complement this book but the emphasis is on the calculus concepts rather than the technology. (Textbook ISBN: 0471207926)

Student Solutions Manual: Provides complete solutions to every odd exercise in the text. These solutions will help you develop the strong foundation you need to succeed in your Calculus class and allow you to finish the course with the foundation that you need to apply the calculus you learned to subsequent courses.
(Solutions Manual ISBN: 0471213624) ... Read more

Reviews (3)

excellent, much faster than I expected
Excellent seller. It arrived much faster than I expected.
Thanks a lot

Teach yourself Calculus
This book is addressed for understanding of the Calculus and not for the traditional teaching that sins for the excess of formalism. It is an excellent book for who wants to understand and to learn Calculus through the application of problems of the Real World. The book also motivates the use of graphic calculators to have a better vision of the problem.

A Bad Math Book
... The layout of the book was confusing and so where theexamples and explanations. If it where not for a great math teacher Iwould have been lost in the class if I was just left to the book alone. I would recommend students and teachers (if your considering this book for your class) to stay away from it... END ... Read more

Book Description

Amstat News asked three review editors to rate their top five favorite books in the September 2003 issue. The first edition of Applied Econometric Time Series was among those chosen.

This new edition reflects recent advances in time-series econometrics, such as out-of-sample forecasting techniques, non-linear time-series models, Monte Carlo analysis, and bootstrapping. Numerous examples from fields ranging from agricultural economics to transnational terrorism illustrate various techniques. ... Read more

Reviews (8)

An Elementary Book
The book is an introduction to time series and covers ARMA, VAR Unit roots and Basic Cointegration, is a good book for people that want learn time series quickly, the book has some elementary theory of time series and many examples and exercises, the computacional problems needs some of RATS ...the book describes time series without advanced mathematics.

An understandable and fun introduction to time series
I bought Walter Enders book several years ago, when I was an undergraduate student. It's a nice manual. Perhaps you won't see the statistical demonstration of the unit-root (Dickey-Fuller) test, but you will understand why it doesn't follow a standard probability distribution and you'll know how to use it. It's the same idea with Perron's unit-root with structural change test. The author introduces the reader to the main topics of interest in the time series field; ARIMA, VAR, ARCH, unit roots, cointegration, and distinction between deterministic trends and stochastic trends. This work is done through an understandable and fun text. You will enjoy reading the book. Besides that, the author illustrates each topic with an economic example perfectly presented and, in general, very interesting (business cycles, PPP, foreign exchange Market efficiency, Unit roots in GNP for example). I particularly enjoyed the unit root and the perron's test chapters. I used them a lot in my final work in college. Here, you will have the simplest explanation of ARCH processes. As someone else said, this is only an introductory book (for applied econometricians it should be seen as an excellent and very intuitive cookbook); if you are interested in time series, you can begin here, but you should then reading more advanced books, such as Hamilton's Time Series Analysis. A great combination of introductory manuals can be achieved if you have Johnston and Dinardo "Econometric models".

a good place to start
This is the best place to start to learn time series econometrics for anyone who has in his background only basic econometrics, calculus and matrix algebra. The reason is that Enders makes very complicated subject to look rather simple. This book shows how and why time-series is different from standard econometrics. It covers a lot of models employed in time series: ARMA, VAR, Unit Roots, Cointegration and Error-Correction. It proposes simple strategies that applied researchers can follow making their treatment of time-series more or less adequate. However, you would underestimate complexity of time series after reading this book. I would recommend to combine it at least with Hamilton's book.

The Chiang of the time series
As the other reviewers pointed out, the greatest quality of the Enders's book is its readability. It is, most certainly, a very good introduction to the topic. It is getting old, though. The developments in the time series literature have been pretty fast and a new edition would certainly be a good idea.

A Practical Book
Starting with the Difference Equations (Ch 1), Enders will walk you through practical methods involved in time series.

This is a good introductory book in time series. But, it has some practical aspects. For example, in Chapter 3, the yen/dollar exchange rate model is cited, indicating non-random walk behavior in this exchange market so that an efficient market hypothesis may not apply here. Then the business cycles are discussed. As the cycles in exchange markets are what some technical traders look for, an approach like this is valuable to working analysts. ... Read more

Book Description

Monte Carlo simulation has become an essential tool in the pricing of derivative securities and in risk management. These applications have, in turn, stimulated research into new Monte Carlo methods and renewed interest in some older techniques.

This book develops the use of Monte Carlo methods in finance and it also uses simulation as a vehicle for presenting models and ideas from financial engineering.It divides roughly into three parts. The first part develops the fundamentals of Monte Carlo methods, the foundations of derivatives pricing, and the implementation of several of the most important models used in financial engineering.The next part describes techniques for improving simulation accuracy and efficiency.The final third of the book addresses special topics: estimating price sensitivities, valuing American options, and measuring market risk and credit risk in financial portfolios.

The most important prerequisite is familiarity with the mathematical tools used to specify and analyze continuous-time models in finance, in particular the key ideas of stochastic calculus. Prior exposure to the basic principles of option pricing is useful but not essential.

The book is aimed at graduate students in financial engineering, researchers in Monte Carlo simulation, and practitioners implementing models in industry. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Mathematically disappointing book
Don't be fooled by the name of the Springer series where this book appeared: if you are looking for a nice list of examples and applications, then this book may be ok, but otherwise, this is not the place to look for proofs and rigorous results.

Excellent Read
Very well written book , all you need to know about MC Methods.
If you want to buy one book buy this one, if you have deep pockets then may be you should get the Peter Jaeckal book along with this. There is another introductory book on Simulation by Sheldon Ross.

a great buy
This is the best book I've read in the last year on mathematical finance. It is a tightly focussed text on Monte Carlo methods no more no less. So you won't find things like day count fracs because that's not what it's about.

Glasserman is a true expert on the topic. My highlight was the chapter on variance reduction where the vast amount of detailed knowledge taught me a lot, although I implement monte carlo pricing models on a day to day basis.

Compared to the best, this is average.
This book has a good explanation of Monte Carlo methods, but so do many others. Given that the focus of this book is interest rate models, I must compare it with the best in the field, and this book falls short. The definitive encyclopedia is "Interest Rate Modelling: Financial Engineering" by Jessica James and Nick Webber. Ms. James's Ph.D. in physics and on-line experience shows through in the sound explanation and application of theory.

Glasserman falls down in the actual applications, since some of the key real-world ingredients such as day counts and quirks of the market are missing.

"Interest Rate Modelling" covers these features and more. It also reviews hundreds of publications. All the methods for term structure modeling are clearly discussed, and the authors made improvements on some of the original works. "Interest Rate Modelling" still the standard for serious professionals, and while this book is good, compared to a superior work it only merits 2.5 stars.

Monte Carlo applications and much more!
I just got this book and start reading a few topics of interest like Risk Management. The book covers a lot of material in various financial products (heavy on interest rate products) and disciplines and does a fairly detailed job. It would have been great to have expanded the book to cover some areas more in depth (credit and operational risk), but otherwise this book is pretty comprehensive in terms of Monte Carlo applications. The book also has a nice appendix section that covers stochastic calculus and other topics. I took a course by Professor Glasserman at Columbia University ages ago and the book as well as the course delivers. This book is an excellent reference for any practitioner or academic alike (highly recommended). If you had to choose, I also think this book is better than the Peter Jaeckel's book on Monte Carlo. Enjoy... ... Read more

Book Description

S is a powerful environment for the statistical and graphical analysis of data. It provides the tools to implement many statistical ideas that have been made possible by the widespread availability of workstations having good graphics and computational capabilities. This book is a guide to using S environments to perform statistical analyses and provides both an introduction to the use of S and a course in modern statistical methods. Implementations of S are available commercially in S-PLUS(R) workstations and as the Open Source R for a wide range of computer systems. The aim of this book is to show how to use S as a powerful and graphical data analysis system. Readers are assumed to have a basic grounding in statistics, and so the book is intended for would-be users of S-PLUS or R and both students and researchers using statistics. Throughout, the emphasis is on presenting practical problems and full analyses of real data sets. Many of the methods discussed are state of the art approaches to topics such as linear, nonlinear and smooth regression models, tree-based methods, multivariate analysis, pattern recognition, survival analysis, time series and spatial statistics. Throughout modern techniques such as robust methods, non-parametric smoothing and bootstrapping are used where appropriate. This fourth edition is intended for users of S-PLUS 6.0 or R 1.5.0 or later. A substantial change from the third edition is updating for the current versions of S-PLUS and adding coverage of R. The introductory material has been rewritten to emphasis the import, export and manipulation of data. Increased computational power allows even more computer-intensive methods to be used, and methods such as GLMMs, MARS, SOM and support vector machines are considered. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Excellent
A worthy update. The authors are matter-of-fact and straightforward. I appreciate their terse style, the broad coverage, and the many examples. It's also good that they're starting to split programming material off into its own monograph (S Programming), making this book all the more appropriate for learning, although not quite beginning, statisticians. Their considerable contribution in software is also very much appreciated.

I do not agree at all with the reviewer who chided them for including R; I say so much the better for it. I very much hope that they will continue to do so.

An excellent application of statistics with S
I am an experienced S-Plus user. I found the 4th ed. of the popular book very helpful (and practical). The authors added many libraries to the packaged S-Plus, which is very generous. I would give it a five-star ranking, but I found the various comments on R really disturbing (I suspect most practioners use S-Plus instead of R). Maybe the authors should put everything related to R into separated boxes (or in a separate chapter). Overall, it's a great book and I would like to recommend it to anyone interested in computational statistics. Note: Basic knowledge of S and some advanced training statistics are assumed. Good for graduate students in statistics/finance, or experienced statisticians/financial engineers. For those without sufficient training in statistics, try the S-Plus Guide to Statistics I & II first. ... Read more

Reviews (15)

Good book for control engineers.
Matlab is a powerful simulation tool for control engineers. This is a good book for enough practical examples and easy read. This book gives enough background for any simulations in control engineering. For implementation with microchip "PowerPC Programming Handbook" is the only other book you need. Having minimum necessary theoretical background and these books, you can make any electro mechanical systems work.

Good for the basics
Most of my needs are fairly simple: some arithmetic, some algebra, some graphs, all as part of what I was really working on. Matlab is a helpful tool with legible syntax, and gives a good introduction to the first few dozen things I needed.

Matlab is very extensible. There are lots of specialty packages, GUI extensions, and hooks for custom programming. Fine. That's way past what I want right now. This gets me into Matlab and gets my job done.

Maybe experts want something more, but this is a good first book for anyone already familiar with programming.

The best Matlab book available.
Version 6 of Matlab is improved in graphic use interface and efficiency of computation as well as compatibility with other languages like C++. "Mastering MATLAB 6" is the best choice of book on Matlab for its detailed coverage on graphics and interface with other programming languages. Only weakness of Matlab is its capability of analytical computation, and it is preferred to use Maple for analytical calculation. The most respected programming book on Maple is "Maple Programming Guide". "Mastering MATLAB 6" and "Maple Programming Guide" are the investment which you will not regret.

Skip for GUI help
The book is terrible for explaining GUIs, and the authors are shamelessly unapologetic about it:(p. 513) "It's difficult to illustrate GUI programming with examples because GUI-M files are very long and [...] difficult to illustrate." In other words, the authors found it too much work to actually be helpful, and their suggestion is just to randomly hunt for GUI code and figure it out. The rest of the book, however, is as good as the online documentation, sometimes better . . .

Wonderfully thorough reference
This book is exactly what I've been looking for. It's a fantastic reference for all that is Matlab. I'm a graduate student who does numerical methods in Matlab frequently and to have a book like this handy is a real help. ... Read more

Book Description

Elayn Martin-Gay's success as a developmental math author starts with a strong focus on mastering the basics through well-written explanations, innovative pedagogy and a meaningful, integrated program of learning resources. The revisions to this edition provide new pedagogy and resources to build reader confidence and help readers develop basic skills and understand concepts.Features incorporation of AMATYC and NCTM standards-reflected in an increased emphasis on visualization graphing, and data analysis. In addition, Martin-Gay's 4-step problem solving process-Understand, Translate, Solve and Interpret-is integrated throughout. Also includes new features such as Study Skills Reminders, "Integrated Reviews", and "Concept Checks."For those in need of a graphing utility resource in intermediate algebra, and for readers who need to prepare for advanced algebra or finite math. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Sometimes complex
This book covers many problems but lacks descriptive solutions. I could not get a good concept of how to solve the problems because most of the solutions were broken into several sections. This book does give some of the answers but again it does lack descriptive solutions.

I can't wait to get this book!
In my pre-algebra I and II classes, we used Martin-Gay's books. They were wonderful! They're easy to understand and follow with plenty of exercises. I was looking forward to using her books for Intermediate Algebra. I was extremely disappointed to find that the college switched to a different book...one that isn't helpful at all. I'm planning on using Martin-Gay's book along side our college textbook we now have. Hopefully, the lightbulb will be going on much quicker!

Very Complete
This book won't let you get stuck, it explains all concepts clearly. It offers a good beginning algebra review, and gives you a thorough dose of the tougher stuff.

I Wish I Had This Book in High School
I am not reselling my Basic and Intermediate Algebra books by the same author. These books explained algebra better than any book I've ever attempted to muddle through in the late 80's that's for sure!

An interesting math textbook!
First, I should share that I am the author ot this textbook! Next, I want to respond to the other review by saying that the criticisms are accurate for the premlinary edition, but not this first edition (with subtitle "Functions and Authentic Applications"). In fact, the first edition was not available when the other review was posted! In the first edition I completely rewrote the the text so that it is now really easy to follow. It even has a list of key points at the end of each section. The text has tons of current, interesting data sets that makes the course come alive. You will need to use a graphing calculator with this text. My students love using this text and I'm sure you will too! ... Read more

Book Description

Praise for the First Edition of Design and Analysis of Clinical Trials
"An excellent book, providing a discussion of the clinical trial process from designing the study through analyzing the data, and to regulatory requirement . . . could easily be used as a classroom text to understand the process in the new drug development area."
-Statistical Methods in Medicine
A complete and balanced presentation now revised, updated, and expanded
As the field of research possibilities expands, the need for a working understanding of how to carry out clinical trials only increases. New developments in the theory and practice of clinical research include a growing body of literature on the subject, new technologies and methodologies, and new guidelines from the International Conference on Harmonization (ICH).
Design and Analysis of Clinical Trials, Second Edition provides both a comprehensive, unified presentation of principles and methodologies for various clinical trials, and a well-balanced summary of current regulatory requirements. This unique resource bridges the gap between clinical and statistical disciplines, covering both fields in a lucid and accessible manner. Thoroughly updated from its first edition, the Second Edition of Design and Analysis of Clinical Trials features new topics such as:
* Clinical trials and regulations, especially those of the ICH
* Clinical significance, reproducibility, and generalizability
* Goals of clinical trials and target population
* New study designs and trial types
* Sample size determination on equivalence and noninferiority trials, as well as comparing variabilities
Also, three entirely new chapters cover:
* Designs for cancer clinical trials
* Preparation and implementation of a clinical protocol
* Data management of a clinical trial
Written with the practitioner in mind, the presentation assumes only a minimal mathematical and statistical background for its reader. Instead, the writing emphasizes real-life examples and illustrations from clinical case studies, as well as numerous references-280 of them new to the Second Edition-to the literature. Design and Analysis of Clinical Trials, Second Edition will benefit academic, pharmaceutical, medical, and regulatory scientists/researchers, statisticians, and graduate-level students in these areas by serving as a useful, thorough reference source for clinical research. ... Read more

Book Description

This book strikes a balance between the traditional and the modern—combining the traditional material with a modern systems emphasis.Chapter topics cover an introduction to differential equations, first-order equations, modeling and applications, second-order equations, the Laplace Transform, numerical methods, matrix algebra, an introduction to systems, linear systems with constant coefficients, nonlinear systems, power series solutions, Fourier series methods, and partial differential equations. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Great Book for ODE's
I used this book for a course in ODE's. The edition that was available for purchase at our school's bookstore also included a book by the authors for using MatLab for solving ODE's, The combination of the two were great. The book is logically structured and generally easy to read. The authors use many examples from a variety of fields. The MatLab book was a phenomenal help: it's the best intro to MatLab that I've found, and was very useful in helping to solve problems. My only beef with the book is that since this is a first edition, there are several errors in the odd numbered solutions at the end of the book, which caused many sleepless nights. ... Read more

Book Description

First published in 1998, Financial Models Using Simulation and Optimization quickly became one of the most widely used references for the application of simulation and optimization techniques to financial problems.Now, author Wayne Winston has done it again with a totally new volume!Financial Models II is packed with real-life examples that demonstrate how @RISK, Evolver and Excel can be used to make better financial decisions.Winston's straightforward, step-by-step approach makes his innovative techniques accessible to anyone who uses Microsoft Excel.

Topics covered include:

o Modeling future stock prices and hedging stock price and interest rate risk.Examples include Value At Risk (VAR), incorporating analyst forecasts, correlating stock forecasts, and bootstrapping.

o Portfolio optimization, including minimizing a portfolio's risk, finding the Efficiency Frontier, minimizing the probability of loss, and maximizing the Sharpe Ratio.

o Valuing a firm or a stock price, including modeling key drivers of firm value, incorporating simulation into Proforma models, forecasting income of a corporation, and modeling profitability of a new product.

o Real options and options pricing analysis, including valuing options by arbitrage methods, Black-Scholes pricing, estimating volatility using the historical and implied volatility approaches, option pricing using the risk neutral approach, binomial and lognormal pricing models.

o Pricing and marketing models, including optimal product bundling, price response to currency fluctuations, conjoint analysis, and discrete choice analysis.

o Plus: playing craps with @RISK and simulating the NBA finals!

Examples in this book have been developed and used successfully at companies such as GM, Microsoft, Intel, and Cisco.All files discussed are included on CD-ROM.The book is suitable for advanced undergraduates, MBAs, and most of all practicing financial professionals for both self-study or education classes. ... Read more

Book Description

A complete, highly accessible introduction to one of today's most exciting areas of applied mathematics

One of the youngest, most vital areas of applied mathematics, combinatorial optimization integrates techniques from combinatorics, linear programming, and the theory of algorithms. Because of its success in solving difficult problems in areas from telecommunications to VLSI, from product distribution to airline crew scheduling, the field has seen a ground swell of activity over the past decade.

Combinatorial Optimization is an ideal introduction to this mathematical discipline for advanced undergraduates and graduate students of discrete mathematics, computer science, and operations research. Written by a team of recognized experts, the text offers a thorough, highly accessible treatment of both classical concepts and recent results. The topics include:
* Network flow problems
* Optimal matching
* Integrality of polyhedra
* Matroids
* NP-completeness

Featuring logical and consistent exposition, clear explanations of basic and advanced concepts, many real-world examples, and helpful, skill-building exercises, Combinatorial Optimization is certain to become the standard text in the field for many years to come. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

A Classic in Combinatorial Optimization
Combinaorial Optimization is one of those rare books that is an instant classic. The authors weave a readable fabric of intuition and theory that is unmatched in this exciting discipline. The choice of topics covered begins with two fundamental optimization problems, namely, the minimum spanning tree and shortest path problems. Next, maximum flow and minimum cost flow problems are discussed, followed by matching problems, polyhedral issues arising in combinatorial optimization, and the famous traveling salesman problem. The text concludes with chapters on matroids and NP-Completeness. The exposition on these topics is very well written and the proofs are rigorous. There is a terrific blend of theory, algorithms and applications without overwhelming the reader with computational details. The authors also do a good job of developing an accurate historical perspective of the material, most of which evolved during the time period 1955 to 1995. The book is suitable for an upper-level undergraduate, or a graduate course. The exercises are very well thought out and are at an appropriate level. I have taught undergraduate courses in combinatorial optimization for over 10 years and have always struggled to find an appropriate text. My problem has now been solved.

Elegant one, but not a lot of details.
This book was thoroughly written by great-minded Masters. It is well-organized in their topics and presentation. However, the book details is unbalnced, some chapters are overwhelm the data, and some others are insufficient. By the way, I graded this book a Very Good one. Worth Reading !!

A superb introduction to Combinatorial Optimisation
A good introduction to Combinatorial optimisation and integer programming.

Especially recommended are the chapters on minimum weight matching and the TSP. ... Read more

Book Description

The text is not written for those students who will become statisticians; it is written for future decision makers in business. The focus and goal is to make students better quantitative decision makers.

The concepts of statistics are presented in the setting of business decision making through the use of many real world examples, real business data and applications.

Student Study Guide:  Designed to be used alongside the text book, this invaluable step-by-step study guide walks students through the text as they read it and work problems while supporting the decision making approach. ... Read more

Reviews (13)

One of the best books on the subject
This is the book I turn to first when I have to deal with a problem in numerical linear algebra, it's clearly written and has extensive references.

THE CLASSIC reference for matrix computations!
This book is an invaluable reference for anyone working in matrix computations or linear algebra. I have been using it for years and found it to be clear and comprehensive

Got Matrices?
This is one of the definitive texts on computational linear algebra, or more specifically, on matrix computations. The term "matrix computations" is actually the more apt name because the book focuses on computational issues involving matrices,the currency of linear algebra, rather than on linear algebra in the abstract. As an example of this distinction, the authors develop both "saxpy" (scalar "a" times vector "x" plus vector "y") based algorithms and "gaxpy" (generalized saxpy, where "a" is a matrix) based algorithms, which are organized to exploit very efficient low-level matrix computations. This is an important organizing concept that can lead to more efficient matrix algorithms.

For each important algorithm discussed, the authors provide a concise and rigorous mathematical development followed by crystal clear pseudo-code. The pseudo-code has a Pascal-like syntax, but with embedded Matlab abbreviations that make common low-level matrix operations extremely easy to express. The authors also use indentation rather than tedious BEGIN-END notation, another convention that makes the pseudo-code crisp and easy to understand. I have found it quite easy to code up various algorithms from the pseudo-code descriptions given in this book. The authors cover most of the traditional topics such as Gaussian elimination, matrix factorizations (LU, QR, and SVD), eigenvalue problems (symmetric and unsymmetric), iterative methods, Lanczos method, othogonalization and least squares (both constrained and unconstrained), as well as basic linear algebra and error analysis.

I've use this book extensively during the past ten years. It's an invaluable resource for teaching numerical analysis (which invariably includes matrix computations), and for virtually any research that involves computational linear algebra. If you've got matrices, chances are you will appreciate having this book around.

from theory to practice.
A few years ago this book permitted me to go reliably from
theoretical linear algebra to practical large-scale numerical
computations, using also LAPACK. I think this is its place:
from the university course level to the practical side.
On the other hand, one cannot really say it is as readable
as, say, Numerical Recipes: it has a quite terse style.

Still state of the art?
It is now 6 years ago when the last version of this once
superb book was released. Meanwhile, bunches of books
aiming a similiar audience were published. Some of them,
in particular G.W. Stewarts, are nowadays more seasonable.
Notably, the "iterative" sections ask for light
refreshments. The lack of references to appropriate
software routines in these parts is another disadvantage
which could be easily overcome in a new edition. ... Read more

Reviews (12)

Outstanding Biostatistics Book for the Non-statistician
I was delighted to discover this book four years ago, when I began teaching a course in clinical research methods. I have not seen anything else like the text or the optional companion software by GraphPad. The textbook is extremely well-written and well-organized. Not only have I been using the book and software in my teaching, but I have found that they handle about 90% of my own statistical needs for my research.

The author's philosophy (to forget the fancy stuff since the vast majority of applications don't require it) and the way it is implemented (with just enough theory to protect users from making false inferences) are exactly right. Dr. Motulsky has done a a superb job.

Excellent non-mathematical overview
Dr. Motulsky does an excellent job of introducing statistical concepts through examples and direct applications. Where this book is especially valuable is in keeping things simple -- without the intimidating mathematical notation -- while providing examples of where statistics can be used to measure the wrong things or present results that do not make sense in the context of what the researcher is investigating.

My favorite example illustrates how a stastical analysis of a new test that identifies those susceptible to a fatal disease "shows" an increase in the average lifespan of both populations (those who suffer the disease and those who don't). The reality, of course, is no one is living longer because of the test, but rather the population sampled is different. Brilliant and concise.

Although the text is targeted towards those in the bioinformatic and medical vocations, it's useful beyond that because the presentation of concepts is practical and yet without the notation.

excellent introduction to biostatistics
I used this book when writing a manuscript for publication. I stumbled across the author's web site, and found his approach remarkably useful. The book is clear and concise. It encompasses all general statistical methods needed for biomedical publishing for both basic and clinical research. It serves as an indespensible introduction for those, who like me, either never understood biostats as taught in medical school or who have not used these skills often enough to develop adequate familiarity with the methods and their application. Highly recommended.

ACCESSIBLE
I am very grateful that a professor of mine used this book for her class...I had flipped thru other stats books prior to taking her class, and the contents of those other books looked all too similar to the mathematics books that had tortured me for years.
Intuitive Biostatistics is actually enjoyable to read, and it usually teaches at a pace that is reasonable. Many of the examples were quite relevant to my area of study - Nutrition.
Wish more texts were like this one.

Priceless resource for my Prelims!
This book was an excellent choice for me to help review biostats for my prelims! Yes, although it doesn't focus on details of the more advanced statistical analyses, it does offer a common sense approach to data analysis. The assumptions for each test are clearly delineated, and the table at the back of the book is a quick reference for choosing tests based on what type of data you have. This is the ONLY biostatistics book I have read cover to cover. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Simple & Straightforward
Probability is a hard subject to understand for many and I am no exception. There is no one book that can present the subject matter in clear and precise way. This Schaum's outline as the title suggests is a good outline. It sums up the various topics and like other Schaum's texts solves a huge number of relevent problems. But it cannot be used as a substitute for a text. I cannot suggest any one text (Papoulis, Garcia, Gharamani etc.)either because I haven't found a satisfactory one so far. I have taken probability at different levels of education and the one thing that I have come to realize is that an understanding of the subject only develops over time. There is no magic solution except that you have be it for a while until your mind begins to think along the same lines. But I'd definitely suggest this book as a supplement to any text. In fact, call it a mandatory supplement.

Wonderful Book
Why can't textbooks be like this? I want to learn and actually do the problems. Textbooks seem to have obscure problems that have little explanation. This book has real problems professors assign, and this book demonstrates how to solve these problems! I want to do well in my classes, and this book helps me do just that.

Very clear and compact
I had to use a book written by the professor teaching me probability. His book being very poor quality I decided to try this one instead. With success, it is a very clear and compact book. The only thing I found is that it does not cover enough distributions, and that there are quite a few typos.

better than books many times its price
I purchased around $200 worth of textbooks on Probability and Random Processes for a graduate level course I took. Of those books, this one got the most use. It summed up topics concisely and provided adequate examples with enough detail to actually show me how to get an answer. If you are getting regular textbooks on this topic, it would be well worth your while to pay the extra small price for this handy guide. It will be well worth the money.

Increasing the probability of solving probability problems
After being out of school for ten years, this book proved to be essential for my M.S.E.E. course in Random Signals. This book concisely summed my undergraduate engineering Signals class with solved problems. In addition, the solved problems acted as a guideline for my Master's class. I felt that I could not have gotten through my class without this book.

The reason why I ordered this book in the first place was the advice of my professor. My professor is a Ph.D. in the telecommunications workplace, acting as an adjunct professor. This working Ph.D. continues to use his well-worn Schaum's as a reference. ... Read more

Book Description

A Practical, Up-To-Date Guide To Modern Methods In The Analysis Of Time To Event Data.
The rapid proliferation of powerful and affordable statistical software packages over the past decade has inspired the development of an array of valuable new methods for analyzing survival time data. Yet there continues to be a paucity of statistical modeling guides geared to the concerns of health-related researchers who study time to event data. This book helps bridge this important gap in the literature.
Applied Survival Analysis is a comprehensive introduction to regression modeling for time to event data used in epidemiological, biostatistical, and other health-related research. Unlike other texts on the subject, it focuses almost exclusively on practical applications rather than mathematical theory and offers clear, accessible presentations of modern modeling techniques supplemented with real-world examples and case studies. While the authors emphasize the proportional hazards model, descriptive methods and parametric models are also considered in some detail. Key topics covered in depth include:
* Variable selection.
* Identification of the scale of continuous covariates.
* The role of interactions in the model.
* Interpretation of a fitted model.
* Assessment of fit and model assumptions.
* Regression diagnostics.
* Recurrent event models, frailty models, and additive models.
* Commercially available statistical software and getting the most out of it.
Applied Survival Analysis is an ideal introduction for graduate students in biostatistics and epidemiology, as well as researchers in health-related fields. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

nice introduction
This book provides a good, clear, concise explanation of Cox's proportional hazards models. For someone seeking a non-mathematical description this is a great guide. The original datasets from the text examples can even be downloaded and you can go through the same process yourself. Because of some mistakes in the text, I would recomend looking at other sources as well.

Great conceptual Introduction to Cox regression analysis
I enjoyed the authors' book on logistic regression analysis in 1989, and this book is just as good, or better, with many extremely practical suggestions on building regression models for survival data. Happily, the authors summarize, compare, and contrast several major texts on survival analysis which have appeared in the past 10 years. For example, they discuss different names used by different authors for score residuals. They present a helpful appendix on the counting process approach to survival analysis, which will make more advanced texts accessible to students; thus, anyone who wants to use survival analysis, at any level, should consult this book, even if he has already studied books by Miller, Lee, Collett, Fleming-Harington,Andersen, et al, etc. An unfortunate drawback to this book is that the first printing contains many careless errors, some of which may affect student learning: for example, the definition of a survival function is misstated. I recommend that you insist on the second or third printing when buying this book, and you will be quite satisfied.

A clear, simple introduction to survival models
Hosmer and Lemeshow have given us a clear, nontechnical introduction to using survival models. The book strikes a good balance between covering the basics and addressing the most recent, state-of-the-art techniques, including repeated events, frailty models, and others. They also do a good job of addressing practical issues, including estimation details and available software. While most of the examples are drawn from medicine and biostatistics, this book could also serve as a useful starting point for social and behavioral scientists interesting in learning the fundamentals of these models, as well as a useful reference for applied researchers.

Excellent Nontechnical Coverage of Survival Analysis
Applied Survival Analysis is an excellent book for some