In every area of science where data are collected and interpreted there is a need for the application of statistical methods. In some sciences, such as agricultural research, medicine, and pharmacy, the value of statistics has been realised for many years and scientists and statisticians work hand in hand. The applications to the specific topics have driven statistical research and specialist journals exist which cover advances in the particular methodologies, for instance Statistics in Medicine. In the physical sciences the appreciation of statistical methods has lagged behind that in these other fields. There are scientific research laboratories in the UK producing large quantities of data which do not employ a single graduate statistician. The misguided attitude is that the tools of statistics are readily available from textbooks and computer software packages, and if necessary academia can provide consultancy services. While it is perhaps regrettable that the value of statistics has not always been properly recognised in the physical sciences, it is nevertheless a fact that there is no such thing as 'physical statistics'. Statistics, like mathematics, is a discipline that essentially stands apart from its application. Hypothesis testing, curve fitting, point estimation, and the design of experiments are well established methods and are equally applicable in all branches of science. Statistics is applied in physics, but this does not constitute 'physical statistics'. Statistics is applied in chemistry, but there is no such thing as 'chemical statistics'. Similarly, statistics is applied in astronomy. And, similarly, there is no such thing as 'astrostatistics'. There is astronomy and there is statistics, and, as is readily apparent from turning through the pages of Babu and Fiegelson's book, the former has found wide and important applications for many of the advanced techniques of the latter, notably multivariate techniques, resampling methods like the 'bootstrap', and spatial statistics. But these techniques were not developed for specific application in the field of astronomy. So why 'Astrostatistics'? The summary on the back cover explains that the book 'provides graduate students and professionals in both statistics and astronomy with exposure to issues of mutual interest'. On the face of it, this