From the Reviews:

"Gihman and Skorohod have done an excellent job of presenting the theory in its present state of rich imperfection."
D.W. Stroock in Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society, 1980

"To call this work encyclopedic would not give an accurate picture of its content and style. Some parts read like a textbook, but others are more technical and contain relatively new results. ... The exposition is robust and explicit, as one has come to expect of the Russian tradition of mathematical writing. The set when completed will be an invaluable source of information and reference in this ever-expanding field"
K.L. Chung in American Scientist, 1977

"The dominant impression is of the authors' mastery of their material, and of their confident insight into its underlying structure. ..."
J.F.C. Kingman in Bulletin of the London Mathematical Society, 1977

In 1982, Springer published the English translation of the Russian book Estimation of Dependencies Based on Empirical Data which became the foundation of the statistical theory of learning and generalization (the VC theory). A number of new principles and new technologies of learning, including SVM technology, have been developed based on this theory.

The second edition of this book contains two parts:

- A reprint of the first edition which provides the classical foundation of Statistical Learning Theory

- Four new chapters describing the latest ideas in the development of statistical inference methods. They form the second part of the book entitled Empirical Inference Science

The second part of the book discusses along with new models of inference the general philosophical principles of making inferences from observations. It includes new paradigms of inference that use non-inductive methods appropriate for a complex world, in contrast to inductive methods of inference developed in the classical philosophy of science for a simple world.

The two parts of the book cover a wide spectrum of ideas related to the essence of intelligence: from the rigorous statistical foundation of learning models to broad philosophical imperatives for generalization.

The book is intended for researchers who deal with a variety of problems in empirical inference: statisticians, mathematicians, physicists, computer scientists, and philosophers.

'Et moi *...* si j'avait su comment en rcvenir. One service mathematics has rendered the je n'y serais point alle.' human race. It has put common sense back Jules Verne where it belongs, on the topmost shelf next to the dusty canistcr labelled 'discarded non- sense'. The scries is divergent; therefore we may be Eric T. Bell able to do something with it. O. Heaviside Mathematics is a tool for thought. A highly necessary tool in a world where both feedback and non- linearities abound. Similarly, all kinds of parts of mathematics serve as tools for other parts and for other sciences. Applying a simple rewriting rule to the quote on the right above one finds such statements as: 'One service topology has rendered mathematical physics ...'; 'One service logic has rendered com- puter science ...'; 'One service category theory has rendered mathematics ...'. All arguably true. And all statements obtainable this way form part of the raison d'etre of this series.

The basis for this book is a number of lectures given frequently by the author to third year students of the Department of Economics at Leningrad State University who specialize in economical cybernetics. The main purpose of this book is to provide the student with a relatively simple and easy-to-understand manual containing the basic mathematical machinery utilized in the theory of games. Practical examples (including those from the field of economics) serve mainly as an interpretation of the mathematical foundations of this theory rather than as indications of their actual or potential applicability. The present volume is significantly different from other books on the theory of games. The difference is both in the choice of mathematical problems as well as in the nature of the exposition. The realm of the problems is somewhat limited but the author has tried to achieve the greatest possible systematization in his exposition. Whenever possible the author has attempted to provide a game-theoretical argument with the necessary mathematical rigor and reasonable generality. Formal mathematical prerequisites for this book are quite modest. Only the elementary tools of linear algebra and mathematical analysis are used.

These three volumes constitute the edited Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Study Institute on Statistical Distributions in Scientific Work held at the University of Calgary from July 29 to August 10, . 974. The general title of the volumes is "Statistical Distributions in Scientific Work." The individual volumes are: Volume 1 - Models and Structures; Volume 2 - Model Building and Model Selection; and Volume 3 - Characterizations and Applications. These correspond to the three advanced seminars of the Institute devoted to the respective subject areas. The planned activities of the Institute consisted of main lectures and expositions, seminar lectures and study group dis cussions, tutorials and individual study. The activities included meetings of editorial committees to discuss editorial matters for these proceedings which consist of contributions that have gone through the usual refereeing process. A special session was organized to consider the potential of introducing a course on statistical distributions in scientific modeling in the curriculum of statistics and quantitative studies. This session is reported in Volume 2. The overall perspective for the Institute is provided by the Institute Director, Professor G. P. Pati1, in his inaugural address which appears in Volume 1. The Linnik Memorial Inaugural Lecture given by Professor C. R. Rao for the Characterizations Seminar is included in Volume 3. As discussed in the Institute inaugural address, not mL."

These three volumes constitute the edited Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Study Institute on Statistical Distributions in Scientific Work held at the University of Calgary from July 29 to August 10, 1974. The general title of the volumes is "Statistical Distributions in Scientific Work." The individual volumes are: Volume 1 - Models and Structures; Volume 2 - Model Building and Model Selection; and Volume 3 - Characterizations and Applications. These correspond to the three advanced seminars of the Institute devoted to the respective subject areas. The planned activities of the Institute consisted of main lectures and expositions, seminar lectures and study group dis cussions, tutorials and individual study. The activities included meetings of editorial committees to discuss editorial matters for these proceedings which consist of contributions that have gone through the usual refereeing process. A special session was organized to consider the potential of introducing a course on statistical distributions in scientific modeling in the curriculum of statistics and quantitative studies. This session is reported in Volume 2. The overall perspective for the Institute is provided by the Institute Director, Professor G. P. Patil, in his inaugural address which appears in Volume 1. The Linnik Memorial Inaugural Lecture given by Professor C. R. Rao for the Characterizations Seminar is included in Volume 3."

These three volumes constitute the edited Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Study Institute on Statistical Distributions in Scientific Work held at the University of Calgary from July 29 to August 10, 1974. The general title of the volumes is "Statistical Distributions in Scientific Work." The individual volumes are: Volume 1 - Models and Structures; Volume 2 - Model Building and Model Selection; and Volume 3 - Characterizations and Applications. These correspond to the three advanced seminars of the Institute devoted to the respective subject areas. The planned activities of the Institute consisted of main lectures and expositions, seminar lectures and study group dis cussions, tutorials and individual study. The activities included meetings of editorial committees to discuss editorial matters for these proceedings which consist of contributions that have gone through the usual refereeing process. A special session was organized to consider the potential of introducing a course on statistical distributions in scientific modeling in the curriculum of statistics and quantitative studies. This session is reported in Volume 2. The overall perspective for the Institute is provided by the Institute Director, Professor G. P. Pati1, in his inaugural address which appears in Volume 1. The Linnik Memorial Inaugural Lecture given by Professor C. R. Rao for the Characterizations Seminar is included in Volume 3."

'Et moi *...* si j'avait su comment en rcvenir. One service mathematics has rendered the je n'y serais point alle.' human race. It has put common sense back Jules Verne where it belongs, on the topmost shelf next to the dusty canistcr labelled 'discarded non- sense'. The scries is divergent; therefore we may be Eric T. Bell able to do something with it. O. Heaviside Mathematics is a tool for thought. A highly necessary tool in a world where both feedback and non- linearities abound. Similarly, all kinds of parts of mathematics serve as tools for other parts and for other sciences. Applying a simple rewriting rule to the quote on the right above one finds such statements as: 'One service topology has rendered mathematical physics ...'; 'One service logic has rendered com- puter science ...'; 'One service category theory has rendered mathematics ...'. All arguably true. And all statements obtainable this way form part of the raison d'etre of this series.

These three volumes constitute the edited Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Study Institute on Statistical Distributions in Scientific Work held at the University of Calgary from July 29 to August 10, . 974. The general title of the volumes is "Statistical Distributions in Scientific Work." The individual volumes are: Volume 1 - Models and Structures; Volume 2 - Model Building and Model Selection; and Volume 3 - Characterizations and Applications. These correspond to the three advanced seminars of the Institute devoted to the respective subject areas. The planned activities of the Institute consisted of main lectures and expositions, seminar lectures and study group dis cussions, tutorials and individual study. The activities included meetings of editorial committees to discuss editorial matters for these proceedings which consist of contributions that have gone through the usual refereeing process. A special session was organized to consider the potential of introducing a course on statistical distributions in scientific modeling in the curriculum of statistics and quantitative studies. This session is reported in Volume 2. The overall perspective for the Institute is provided by the Institute Director, Professor G. P. Pati1, in his inaugural address which appears in Volume 1. The Linnik Memorial Inaugural Lecture given by Professor C. R. Rao for the Characterizations Seminar is included in Volume 3. As discussed in the Institute inaugural address, not mL."

The theory of controlled processes is one of the most recent mathematical theories to show very important applications in modern engineering, parti cularly for constructing automatic control systems, as well as for problems of economic control. However, actual systems subject to control do not admit a strictly deterministic analysis in view of random factors of various kinds which influence their behavior. Such factors include, for example, random noise occurring in the electrical system, variations in the supply and demand of commodities, fluctuations in the labor force in economics, and random failures of components on an automated line. The theory of con trolled processes takes the random nature of the behavior of a system into account. In such cases it is natural, when choosing a control strategy, to proceed from the average expected result, taking note of all the possible variants of the behavior of a controlled system. An extensive literature is devoted to various economic and engineering systems of control (some of these works are listed in the Bibliography). is no text which adequately covers the general However, as of now there mathematical theory of controlled processes. The authors ofthis monograph have attempted to fill this gap. In this volume the general theory of discrete-parameter (time) controlled processes (Chapter 1) and those with continuous-time (Chapter 2), as well as the theory of controlled stochastic differential equations (Chapter 3), are presented."

These three volumes constitute the edited Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Study Institute on Statistical Distributions in Scientific Work held at the University of Calgary from July 29 to August 10, 1974. The general title of the volumes is "Statistical Distributions in Scientific Work." The individual volumes are: Volume 1 - Models and Structures; Volume 2 - Model Building and Model Selection; and Volume 3 - Characterizations and Applications. These correspond to the three advanced seminars of the Institute devoted to the respective subject areas. The planned activities of the Institute consisted of main lectures and expositions, seminar lectures and study group dis cussions, tutorials and individual study. The activities included meetings of editorial committees to discuss editorial matters for these proceedings which consist of contributions that have gone through the usual refereeing process. A special session was organized to consider the potential of introducing a course on statistical distributions in scientific modeling in the curriculum of statistics and quantitative studies. This session is reported in Volume 2. The overall perspective for the Institute is provided by the Institute Director, Professor G. P. Patil, in his inaugural address which appears in Volume 1. The Linnik Memorial Inaugural Lecture given by Professor C. R. Rao for the Characterizations Seminar is included in Volume 3."

The basis for this book is a number of lectures given frequently by the author to third year students of the Department of Economics at Leningrad State University who specialize in economical cybernetics. The main purpose of this book is to provide the student with a relatively simple and easy-to-understand manual containing the basic mathematical machinery utilized in the theory of games. Practical examples (including those from the field of economics) serve mainly as an interpretation of the mathematical foundations of this theory rather than as indications of their actual or potential applicability. The present volume is significantly different from other books on the theory of games. The difference is both in the choice of mathematical problems as well as in the nature of the exposition. The realm of the problems is somewhat limited but the author has tried to achieve the greatest possible systematization in his exposition. Whenever possible the author has attempted to provide a game-theoretical argument with the necessary mathematical rigor and reasonable generality. Formal mathematical prerequisites for this book are quite modest. Only the elementary tools of linear algebra and mathematical analysis are used.

These three volumes constitute the edited Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Study Institute on Statistical Distributions in Scientific Work held at the University of Calgary from July 29 to August 10, 1974. The general title of the volumes is "Statistical Distributions in Scientific Work." The individual volumes are: Volume 1 - Models and Structures; Volume 2 - Model Building and Model Selection; and Volume 3 - Characterizations and Applications. These correspond to the three advanced seminars of the Institute devoted to the respective subject areas. The planned activities of the Institute consisted of main lectures and expositions, seminar lectures and study group dis cussions, tutorials and individual study. The activities included meetings of editorial committees to discuss editorial matters for these proceedings which consist of contributions that have gone through the usual refereeing process. A special session was organized to consider the potential of introducing a course on statistical distributions in scientific modeling in the curriculum of statistics and quantitative studies. This session is reported in Volume 2. The overall perspective for the Institute is provided by the Institute Director, Professor G. P. Pati1, in his inaugural address which appears in Volume 1. The Linnik Memorial Inaugural Lecture given by Professor C. R. Rao for the Characterizations Seminar is included in Volume 3."

Twenty-?ve years have passed since the publication of the Russian version of the book Estimation of Dependencies Based on Empirical Data (EDBED for short). Twen- ?ve years is a long period of time. During these years many things have happened. Looking back, one can see how rapidly life and technology have changed, and how slow and dif?cult it is to change the theoretical foundation of the technology and its philosophy. I pursued two goals writing this Afterword: to update the technical results presented in EDBED (the easy goal) and to describe a general picture of how the new ideas developed over these years (a much more dif?cult goal). The picture which I would like to present is a very personal (and therefore very biased) account of the development of one particular branch of science, Empirical - ference Science. Such accounts usually are not included in the content of technical publications. I have followed this rule in all of my previous books. But this time I would like to violate it for the following reasons. First of all, for me EDBED is the important milestone in the development of empirical inference theory and I would like to explain why. S- ond, during these years, there were a lot of discussions between supporters of the new 1 paradigm (now it is called the VC theory ) and the old one (classical statistics).

This work presents the theory of stochastic processes in its present state of rich imperfection. To describe this work as encyclopedic does not give an accurate picture of its content and style. Some parts read like a textbook, but others are more technical and contain relatively new results. The exposition is robust and explicit, as one has come to expect of the Russian tradition of mathematical writing.

The authors' display mastery of their material, and demonstrate their confident insight into its underlying structure. The set when completed will be an invaluable source of information and reference in this ever-expanding field.

From the Reviews: "Gihman and Skorohod have done an excellent job of presenting the theory in its present state of rich imperfection." --D.W. Stroock, Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society, 1980