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Intellect

"Discovering Hidden Structure" topic of Lee Library lecture Nov. 11

Brigham Young University statistics professor William Christensen will speak to students, faculty and community patrons on "Discovering Hidden Structure" in educational and scientific disciplines Thursday, Nov. 11 at 2 p.m. in the Harold B. Lee Lee Library Auditorium.

The lecture, part of the Library's House of Learning Lecture series, is free.

"In every field of learning, the abundance and richness of information is increasing," says Christensen. The lessons yet to be learned from delving further into these fields will answer many long-standing and important questions scientists and laypeople ask. Christensen also believes the surface has only been touched when exploring the resources provided by the new information age.

The professor explains statistical science as being the art of "persuading the universe to divulge information about itself."

The lecture will discuss visualization, statistical modeling and other tools for finding the hidden structure that exists in data. These and other approaches are used to explore everyday complex problems, like quantifying the impact of pollution sources and assessing hearing function through magnetic resonance imaging of the brain.

For more information contact Brian Champion at 422-5862 or William Christensen at 422-7057.

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