Lattice path combinatorics has developed greatly as a branch of probability studies recently, and the need for new books on the subject is obvious. The present monograph, by one who has made significant contributions to combinatorics and its applications to probability and statistics, will be useful to research workers, teachers, professional statisticians, and advanced students alike. It treats several recent results and it offers a powerful new tool for studying many problems in mathematical statistics.
The emphasis in the five chapters is on 'dominance.' From a consideration of exceedances in the lattice path problem, the text goes on to provide solutions to tests of hypotheses and simple sampling plans, displaying the usefulness of Young chains in the enumeration of the latter. The fourth chapter, on knock-out tournaments, represents one approach to paired comparisons quite close in spirit to dominance and lattice path combinatorics, and the final chapter considers the advantages of using combinatorial methods in statistical problems (including the Frame-Robinson-Thrall theorem to derive properties of non-parametric tests) and mentions current trends of research. Numerous examples, exercises, and references round out the text.

T.V. NARAYANA is a member of the Department of Mathematics at the University of Alberta.

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