The Statistical Theory of Shape

In general terms, the shape of an object, data set, or image can be de­ fined as the total of all information that is invariant under translations, rotations, and isotropic rescalings. The shape of a data set can be defined as the total of all information under translations, rotations, and scale changes to the data. Over the last decade, shape analysis has emerged as a promising new field of statistics with applications to morphometrics, pattern recognition, archaeology, and other disciplines. This book provides a comprehensive coverage of the statistical theory of shape. Both the Kendall and the Bookstein schools of shape analysis are described. It is written for graduate students and researchers in statistics who have some knowledge of multivariate models. An understanding of the basic concepts of differential manifolds is also helpful.