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P.G. Hall 161Some of this work is having as much influence on statistics itself as onthe fields of science and technology that motivated it, and some of that influenceis particularly significant. For example, we have benefited, and are stillbenefiting, from appreciating that entropy is a metric that can be used to assessthe performance of statistical smoothing in general, non-imaging contexts(Donoho et al., 1992). And we are using linear models to select variables inrelatively low-dimensional settings, not just for high-dimensional data. (Thelinear model is, after all, a wonderful parametric surrogate for monotonicity ingeneral contexts.) Some of these new methodologies have broken free from statisticalgravity and risen above the turmoil of other developments with whichthey are associated. They include, in the setting of modern high-dimensionaldata analysis, the lasso and basis pursuit; see, e.g., Tibshirani (1996, 2014a,b)and Chen et al. (1998).15.3 Living the revolution15.3.1 A few words to the readerA great deal of Section 15.3, particularly Section 15.3.2, is going to be aboutme, and for that I must apologize. Please feel free to skip Section 15.3.2, andcome back in at Section 15.3.3.15.3.2 A little backgroundEinstein’s (1934) advocacy of mathematics as a pillar for creative reasoningin science, or at least in physics, has been cited widely:“... experience of course remains the sole criterion of the serviceabilityof a mathematical construction for physics, but the truly creativeprinciple resides in mathematics.”I’m not going to suggest for a moment that all statisticians would agree thatEinstein’s argument is valid in their field. In fact, I know some who regardtheory as a downright hindrance to the way they do research, although itworks for me. However, let’s begin at the beginning.I spent my high school days happily, at a very good government schoolin Sydney. However, the school’s science curriculum in the 1960s effectivelypermitted no experimental work for students. This saved money, and sincethere were no state-wide exams in practical work then the effects of thatprivation were not immediately apparent. It meant that my study of sciencewas almost entirely theoretical, and that suited me just fine. But it didn’tprepare me well for my first year at university, where in each of biology,chemistry and physics I had several hours of practical work each week.