general

I really enjoy using this as a reference book when I need to look something up about inference. Everything in the book is highlighted well and gives clear and concise answer. If you're a straight A student in Math, there should be nothing confusing about this text.

I thought this was a pretty good text for an introduction to statistics with a modicum of calculus (I used the 5th edition). I am a biologist and had taken statistics without calculus (VERY cookbook approach the first time through) so maybe knowing where the math was eventually taking me was the difference. I am very (brutally) applied in my interest in statistics (use it daily to model fish populations, estimate critter abundance, etc.) so I could see where I would not agree with the mathematician who said it killed the beauty of the subject (although I am not gifted enough in math to see the beauty of statistics; I honestly would like to be). Also I did cover the text in two classes (1st up through calculating a confidence interval, 2nd on the general linear model) so that may have made a difference as well - if the others were forced to march through all of the material in the book in 18 weeks. I notice that a lot of the reviewers are computer scientists (ones in my class hated the subject matter - I was not sure why it was a required course for them anyway) or mathematicians. Anyone else out there from the natural or physical sciences (e.g., biology, chemistry, geology) that had experience with this book? Finally - I don't recall the plethora of errata that the others refer to - although I had previously heard this complaint about earlier editions of this book.

Not worth the paper it's printed on or the ink used to print...poor trees! =(