Applying Analytics

Preface

I first considered writing this book when I was driving across the United

States, from Berkeley to D.C. I had just finished my Ph.D. in astrophysics

and was moving East to take a job working for the federal government. I

sp e nt a lot of time on that drive thinking about what exactly I had learned in

graduate school and wondering why it took four years to finish my dissertation

after I had completed my coursework.

One of the questions I asked myself was how long it would take to finish

the same amount of work if I had been an experienced ana ly tics professional

from the start. In other words, if I had begun my dissertation with all of

the analytical ...