[R] Blue Book

[Jim Lindsey]

> 
> I feel constrained to register a protest.  There are some of
> Fisher's writings that are both highly readable and still
> well worth reading.  I'd put his "Design of Experiments" high
> in this category.  It is beautifully written, and accessible
> to working scientists.
> 
> Apologies for this off-topic comment, but I could not let
> that one pass!  I am sure that on reconsideration Bill will,
> if not recant, at least offer Fisher a posthumous apology!

I certainly agree!! Any good statistician worth his or her salt should
read Fisher's 3 main books at least once a year to be reminded of what
modern statistics is all about. To push it, I would say that the Blue
Book is for computer hackers, not statisticians.
  Jim

> 
> John Maindonald.
> 
> > From owner-r-help at stat.math.ethz.ch  Fri May 17 19:15:04 2002
> > From: Bill.Venables at cmis.csiro.au
> 
> > David Jensen asks:
> > 
> > >  -----Original Message-----
> > > From: 	David Jensen [mailto:dvjens at worldnet.att.net] 
> > > Sent:	Friday, May 17, 2002 3:11 PM
> > > 
> > > I came across a very cheap of the infamous blue book - The New S Language
> > > (1988).  Is this book still relevant to modern S or R or am I wasting my
> > > time?
> > 	[WNV]  I'd say you are not wasting your time if you are serious
> > about learning S.  
> > 
> > 	It's not like R A Fisher (who nobody should read unless they have
> > done so at least once before) but to me it is one of those books that become
> > clearer in hindsight.  Little comments make more sense in the light of
> > experience, especially the darker, more intense final chapters and
> > appendices.
> > 
> > 	It's a fundamental book for the S language.
> > 
> > 	Bill Venables.
> > 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> John Maindonald                     email : john.maindonald at anu.edu.au
> Centre for Bioinformation Science,  phone : (6125)3473        
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