Rating: 
Summary: Please check compatibility with Mathematica 5.0
Review: This is a splendid book that comes bundled with marvellous software.(i) Book: The book is roughly the level of Hogg & Craig and up. It is academically precise (no waffle) with an emphasis on problem solving rather than proofs. The CD includes an identical MATHEMATICA version of the book (with navigation palettes that open when you load the software). So, if I want to look up how to create a copula or a mixture distribution or find the pdf of an order statistic or generate random numbers from some arbitrary custom pdf no-one has even heard of before, I just go to the electronic index, click on the entry, and I immediately have a structure for my own example, without having to re-type anything. Very neatly done! And with the bundled software, I can solve problems in a few seconds that took me hours and hours last month. It all fits like a glove and it is a pleasure to use. More importantly, perhaps, it is fun to use. My only gripe is that it would have been nice if some of the pictures in the printed text where in color, but this is a tiny minor gripe because they are already in color in the electronic version anyway. (ii) Software: The book comes packaged with the MathStatica CD. Book owners can register it for free (basic version); you can evaluate everything in the book with it (it is not crippled) and it includes online ?function Help. I have used several MATHEMATICA applications and the standard/quality of mathStatica is just way ahead. Application packages normally cost $$$ or $$$ or more, so the bundling of mathStatica with this book is like getting Xmas early. Getting a password was a breeze and it turned up in my email box within about 30 seconds. Most impressed with the book and with mathStatica.
Rating: 
Summary: Marvellous book / software
Review: This is a splendid book that comes bundled with marvellous software. (i) Book: The book is roughly the level of Hogg & Craig and up. It is academically precise (no waffle) with an emphasis on problem solving rather than proofs. The CD includes an identical MATHEMATICA version of the book (with navigation palettes that open when you load the software). So, if I want to look up how to create a copula or a mixture distribution or find the pdf of an order statistic or generate random numbers from some arbitrary custom pdf no-one has even heard of before, I just go to the electronic index, click on the entry, and I immediately have a structure for my own example, without having to re-type anything. Very neatly done! And with the bundled software, I can solve problems in a few seconds that took me hours and hours last month. It all fits like a glove and it is a pleasure to use. More importantly, perhaps, it is fun to use. My only gripe is that it would have been nice if some of the pictures in the printed text where in color, but this is a tiny minor gripe because they are already in color in the electronic version anyway. (ii) Software: The book comes packaged with the MathStatica CD. Book owners can register it for free (basic version); you can evaluate everything in the book with it (it is not crippled) and it includes online ?function Help. I have used several MATHEMATICA applications and the standard/quality of mathStatica is just way ahead. Application packages normally cost $$$ or $$$ or more, so the bundling of mathStatica with this book is like getting Xmas early. Getting a password was a breeze and it turned up in my email box within about 30 seconds. Most impressed with the book and with mathStatica.
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