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The Fascination of Sand

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A Celebration of Statistics

Abstract

The physics of wind-blown sand poses a variety of intriguing problems whose proper solution seems to require statistical ideas and methods, partly new. The main traits of the processes of transport and sorting of sand particles by wind or by water are described, and a review is given of results obtained and of subjects for further study. Various aspects of general statistical interest are also discussed; in particular, properties and applications of hyperbolic and certain related distributions are outlined. Other, nontechnical ramifications are considered, and this part of the discussion includes a brief biography of R. A. Bagnold, the founder of the physics of blown sands as a scientific field.

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Authors
  1. Ole E. Barndorff-Nielsen
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  2. Preben Blæsild
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  3. Jens Ledet Jensen
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  4. Michael Sørensen
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Imperial College of Science and Technology, SW7 2BZ, London, England

    Anthony C. Atkinson

  2. Carnegie-Mellon University, 15213, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

    Stephen E. Fienberg

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Barndorff-Nielsen, O.E., Blæsild, P., Jensen, J.L., Sørensen, M. (1985). The Fascination of Sand. In: Atkinson, A.C., Fienberg, S.E. (eds) A Celebration of Statistics. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-8560-8_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-8560-8_4

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4613-8562-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4613-8560-8

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