"Modern astronomical research is beset with a vast range of statistical challenges, ranging from reducing data from megadatasets to characterizing an amazing variety of variable celestial objects or testing astrophysical theory. Yet most astronomers still use a narrow suite of traditional statistical methods. Linking astronomy to the world of modern statistics, this volume is a unique resource, introducing astronomers to advanced statistics through ready-to-use code in the public-domain R statistical software environment"-- Provided by publisher.