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Statistical analysis of geological data
Finally, the reviewer himself enjoys happy re~~~llections 01’a field trip over a decade ago in Arran, Scotland, with Mr. W.B. Harland who showed him a palaeofu~gliriie sandstone on a beach and helped him in collecting a piece of it. “it is thus (remotely ) ptxsiblc that some light might be thrown i)tt atmospheric dimatic history by i7”l~reofulgurites”. (W.B. Harland). S. UYI’DA (Tokyo)
Statistical Analysis ofGeological Data. George S. Koch Jr. and Richard F. Link. John Wiley and Sons, New York, N.Y., 1970,375 pp., U.S. $ 12.55. This book represents the first volume of a two-volume series which deals with the application of statistics to geological data. The second volume, unpublished at this writing, treats multivariate analysis and decision making. The stated purpose of this book is to explain some effective statistical procedures f3r the analysis of geological data and to discuss methods of obtaining reliable data. The authors assume that the reader knows some geology, but not necessarily any statistics. The book is organized into three parts and eight chapters. Part I consists of the first chapter which provides a short introduction to models and problem solving. Part II consists of the next five chapters and covers univariate statistical methods. Empirical and theoretical frequency distribution are discussed in chapter 2 and some aspects of sampling are discussed in chapter 3. Inference and hypothesis tests are covered in chapter 4 and a section on Bayesian statistics is provided. Analysis of variance and some frequency distributions and transformations are discussed in chapters 5 and 6. Sampling and variability of geological data are the subjects of the last two chapters which comprise Part 111. The examples come largely from mining geology and the data represent samples of the grades of deposits. Data for many of the examples were generated by the authors for the purpose of illustrating a particular method. The manner in which the book is written makes it appealing for the geologist desiring to learn some statistics. Proofs are avoided and theory is kept to a rnin~unl. Many of the examples represent problems that face mining geologists. Those familiar with statistics may not find this book so appealing. The authors consistently use data which they admit is highly skewed for examples of various parametric tests. An excellent example of heteroscedastic variance is provided in a scatterdiagram on p. 289 while the same raw data is used in a paired t-test. As stated above, the authors assume that the reader knows some geology, but not necessarily any statistics: this probabiy represents a self-ful~lling prophecy. D.A. SINGER (University Park, Pa.)
Statistical Analysis ofGeological Data. George S. Koch Jr. and Richard F. Link. John Wiley and Sons, New York, N.Y., 1970,375 pp., U.S. $ 12.55. This book represents the first volume of a two-volume series which deals with the application of statistics to geological data. The second volume, unpublished at this writing, treats multivariate analysis and decision making. The stated purpose of this book is to explain some effective statistical procedures f3r the analysis of geological data and to discuss methods of obtaining reliable data. The authors assume that the reader knows some geology, but not necessarily any statistics. The book is organized into three parts and eight chapters. Part I consists of the first chapter which provides a short introduction to models and problem solving. Part II consists of the next five chapters and covers univariate statistical methods. Empirical and theoretical frequency distribution are discussed in chapter 2 and some aspects of sampling are discussed in chapter 3. Inference and hypothesis tests are covered in chapter 4 and a section on Bayesian statistics is provided. Analysis of variance and some frequency distributions and transformations are discussed in chapters 5 and 6. Sampling and variability of geological data are the subjects of the last two chapters which comprise Part 111. The examples come largely from mining geology and the data represent samples of the grades of deposits. Data for many of the examples were generated by the authors for the purpose of illustrating a particular method. The manner in which the book is written makes it appealing for the geologist desiring to learn some statistics. Proofs are avoided and theory is kept to a rnin~unl. Many of the examples represent problems that face mining geologists. Those familiar with statistics may not find this book so appealing. The authors consistently use data which they admit is highly skewed for examples of various parametric tests. An excellent example of heteroscedastic variance is provided in a scatterdiagram on p. 289 while the same raw data is used in a paired t-test. As stated above, the authors assume that the reader knows some geology, but not necessarily any statistics: this probabiy represents a self-ful~lling prophecy. D.A. SINGER (University Park, Pa.)