ABSTRACT
A bridge builder wants to be very sure that the strength of a girder exceeds the load that the girder will have to support. A truck driver wants to be sure that the clearance of an underpass exceeds the height of the rig. A corporate president wants to be sure that gross income exceeds total operating costs. A statistician (or mathematician) considers that they all have the same mathematical problem, though this might surprise them. Each can solve his or her specific problem without thinking of it mathematically, but the mathematical approach can lead to greater understanding, especially of how similar other people's problems can be to our own.
