The twenty-first century has seen a breathtaking expansion of statistical methodology, both in scope and in influence. "Big data," "data science," and "machine learning" have become familiar terms in the news, as statistical methods are brought to bear upon the enormous data sets of modern science and commerce. How did we get here? And where are we going? This book takes us on a journey through the revolution in data analysis following the introduction of electronic computation in the 1950s.

This unusual book describes the nature of statistics by displaying multiple examples of the way the field has evolved over the past sixty years, as it has adapted to the rapid increase in available computing power. The authors' perspective is summarized nicely when they say, 'very roughly speaking, algorithms are what statisticians do, while inference says why they do them'. The book explains this'why'; that is, it explains the purpose and progress of statistical research, through a close look at many major methods, methods the authors themselves have advanced and studied at great length. Both enjoyable and enlightening, Computer Age Statistical Inference is written especially for those who want to hear the big ideas, and see them instantiated through the essential mathematics that defines statistical analysis. It makes a great supplement to the traditional curricula for beginning graduate students.