Page 12 - Modern Spatiotemporal Geostatistics
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Preface xi
and the epistemic level (using what we know about the physical systems and
integrating and modeling knowledge from a variety of scientific disciplines),
rather than in the pure or naive inductive account of science based merely on
a linear relationship between data and hypotheses and theory-free techniques
that may be useful in other areas. In this sense, modern spatiotemporal geo-
statistics facilitates yet another kind of integration: the horizontal integration
among disparate scientific fields. By processing a variety of physical knowledge
bases, the BME approach brings together several sciences which are all rele-
vant to the aspect of reality that is to be examined. For example, BME can
become an integral component of the interdisciplinary attack on fundamental
environmental health systems which involve physical variables, exposure mech-
anisms, biological processes, human anatomy and physiology parameters, and
epidemiological indicators. The subject of horizontal integration is a source of
great excitement among scientists; new ideas are generated incessantly. It is
expected that as the domain of modern spatiotemporal geostatistics continues
to expand in search of new conquests, a variety of mapping methods aiming at
horizontal integration will be added to its arsenal.
The crux of this book was projected in Spring 1986 while I was a research
scientist in what is now the Mathematical Geology Section of the Kansas Geo-
logical Survey. Some results were published in a paper in Mathematical Geol-
ogy in 1990. Several other research obligations prevented me from working sys-
tematically on the subject for the following six or seven years. My involvement
in BME analysis has been renewed in recent years, due to increased interest
in developing a new conceptual and methodological framework for geostatis-
tics, and aided by generous funding from the Army Research Office (Grants
DAAG55-98-1-0289 and DAAH04-96-1-0100). To this financial benefactor I
remain grateful.
In carrying out the project, I have benefited from comments made by my
colleagues Patrick Bogaert, Dionissios Hristopulos, Ricardo Olea, John Davis,
Jurgen Pilz, Tom Jones, and Hyemi Choi. Also my students, Marc Serre,
Kyung-mee Choi, Alexander Kolovos, and Jordan Kovitz read my class notes
and recommended improvements. In some cases, it was indeed my confronta-
tion with youth that prompted a fresh look at the basis of geostatistics. These
students continue to work in the field of modern geostatistics and are expected
to contribute significantly to its further advancement. Finally, I am deeply
indebted to Jo Anne DeGraffenreid, IAMG editor of the Oxford monograph
series, Studies in Mathematical Geology, her continuous encouragement and
editorial acumen have proven invaluable.
It has been said that in science, the quality of a scientist's work is closely
related to the quality of those thinkers with whom he/she disagrees. I have
personally benefited greatly from discussions, criticisms, and exchanges of ideas
with theoretical opponents for whom I have the greatest respect. If this book
is somehow critical of some of their ideas, it is because healthy disagreement—
and not imitation—is the deepest sign of an abiding appreciation.