Advances in Biometry (Wiley Series in Probability and Statistics) [Hardcover]

Peter Armitage (Editor), Herbert A. David (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 12, 1996 | ISBN-10: 0471160180 | ISBN-13: 978-0471160182 | Edition: 1

Thirty leading international figures celebrate 50 years of achievement in biometry

Over the past half-century, biometry has grown from a fledgling application of statistics to a vital and dynamic field that is relevant to some of the most important, substantive scientific and social issues that face us today. Statistical methodology has played a central role in the interpretation of experimental data in such dissimilar areas of biological and medical research as genetics, toxicology, neurology, and clinical trials. It has been applied in both the study and the solution of practical problems in the areas of public health, forestry, animal habitats, environmental contamination, and many more. In this book, 30 leading researchers--many of whom have made outstanding contributions to our understanding of the living world--discuss their specific branches of the subject and reflect on the exciting interaction of mathematics, statistics, and biology that has characterized the growth of biometry.

Beginning with a brief history of the International Biometric Society and its journal Biometrics on the occasion of its 50th anniversary, the book goes on to offer a series of views on important developments in the field from two main perspectives: branches of statistical methodology that have played a central role in biometric applications, and branches of biology and medicine that have benefited from these applications. Selected topics are developed in depth, typically with a glance toward the future, and the book is extensively referenced throughout.

Advances in Biometry is fascinating reading for students and researchers in applied statistics and mathematics, the biological and medical sciences, public health, and the environmental sciences.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

This compilation conveys an impression of the breath of activity and the exciting interaction of mathematics, statistics, and biology that has characterized the International Biometric Society during this half-century. Thirty distinguished biometricians describe developments over the last 50 years in their chosen topic and indicate current progress. They reflect on the mathematical and statistical techniques which have grown in importance and the way these methods have been used in biological practice and research.

From the Back Cover

Thirty leading international figures celebrate 50 years of achievement in biometry

Over the past half-century, biometry has grown from a fledgling application of statistics to a vital and dynamic field that is relevant to some of the most important, substantive scientific and social issues that face us today. Statistical methodology has played a central role in the interpretation of experimental data in such dissimilar areas of biological and medical research as genetics, toxicology, neurology, and clinical trials. It has been applied in both the study and the solution of practical problems in the areas of public health, forestry, animal habitats, environmental contamination, and many more. In this book, 30 leading researchers—many of whom have made outstanding contributions to our understanding of the living world—discuss their specific branches of the subject and reflect on the exciting interaction of mathematics, statistics, and biology that has characterized the growth of biometry.

Beginning with a brief history of the International Biometric Society and its journal Biometrics on the occasion of its 50th anniversary, the book goes on to offer a series of views on important developments in the field from two main perspectives: branches of statistical methodology that have played a central role in biometric applications, and branches of biology and medicine that have benefited from these applications. Selected topics are developed in depth, typically with a glance toward the future, and the book is extensively referenced throughout.

Advances in Biometry is fascinating reading for students and researchers in applied statistics and mathematics, the biological and medical sciences, public health, and the environmental sciences.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 496 pages
• Publisher: Wiley-Interscience; 1 edition (July 12, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471160180
• ISBN-13: 978-0471160182
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,857,735 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars nice collection of papers, February 9, 2008

By 

Michael R. Chernick "statman31147" (Holland PA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Advances in Biometry (Wiley Series in Probability and Statistics) (Hardcover)

This volume was edited by two world renown statisticians who have made major contributions to Biometry. It is a collection of 21 articles surveying statistical methods that were developed over the past 50 year and have had an impact on the science of biology (biometrics). The volume was proposed by Lynn Billard in 1996 to celebrate the 50th aniverary of the International Biometrics Society (IBS)and their journal Biometrics. Interesting accounts of the history of the society and the journal can be found in the first paper by Billard (then the President of the IBS)and the second paper by James. The third paper by Bradley and Anderson deals with an historical account of the contributions of the society and the journal to experimental design. Dagnelie provides an historical account of the teaching of biometry. The remaining papers are more technical and deal with special topics, all written by experts. Searle and McCulloch discuss the developments over the 50 year period 1945 to 1995 in linear models. Imrey, Koch and Preisser look at categorical data modeling. C. R. Rao talks about Hierarchical Bayesian procedures. Efron and Tibshirani discuss computer-intensive methods. Gower discusses multivariate analysis and multidimensional scaling. Anderson and Keiding cover survival analysis. Nelder covers statistical computing advances and the use of computer-intensive methods, graphics, computer algebra and expert systems and their impact on biostatistics. Patil covers ecology and environmental methods. Freeman and Riley discuss agriculture and forestry. Thomson deal with the latest hot topic - genetics. Breslow covers epidemiology and Dietz talks about infectious disease epidemology. Ware and Liang cover another important topic - longitudal studies. Diggle covers spatial data analysis. Glasbey and Berman review image analysis. The articles are well written and scholarly and most are great reference articles for historical developments up to 1996. This is a rapidly evolving and important field. Many statistician including me, have moved into biostatistics from other fields and now work in the medical device or pharmaceutical industry. To us, this in an invaluable reference source.
The field has continued to advance over the past 4 years. Still this book establishes a foundation and provides an historical perspective to the methods that we current use and continue to research.