Probability and Statistics with R for Engineers and Scientists

This text grew out of the author’s notes for a course that he has taught for many years to a diverse group of undergraduates. The early introduction to the major concepts engages students immediately, which helps them see the big picture, and sets an appropriate tone for the course. In subsequent chapters, these topics are revisited, developed, and formalized, but the early introduction helps students build a true understanding of the concepts. The text utilizes the statistical software R, which is both widely used and freely available (thanks to the Free Software Foundation). However, in contrast with other books for the intended audience, this book by Akritas emphasizes not only the interpretation of software output, but also the generation of this output. Applications are diverse and relevant, and come from a variety of fields.

Michael G. Akritas has been teaching Statistics at Penn State University since 1985. He is the author of approximately 100 research publications dealing with a wide range of statistical topics. He has supervised 18 Ph.D. and 12 M.Sc. students and is currently supervising three Ph.D. students. He is co-Founder of the International Society for Nonparametric Statistics, former Director of the National Statistical Consulting Center for Astronomy and co-Editor of the Journal of Nonparametric Statistics. He held a three year affiliation with the National Technical University of Athens, and visiting appointments at MIT, Texas A&M University, University of Pennsylvania, University of Göttingen, University of Cyprus, Australian National University, and UNICAMP. He has been an elected Fellow of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics and of the American Statistical Association since 2001.