A New Method of Analyzing Extreme-Value Data

A new method is presented and proposed for analyzing extreme-value data which may arise in a wide variety of applications.Classical applications of statistical methods, which usually concern average values, are inadequate when the quantity of interest is the largest (or smallest in a set of magnitudes. This is the situation in a number of fields, e.g., gust loads of an airplane in flight, highest temperatures or lowest pressures in meteorology, floods and droughts in hydrology, breaking strengths in materials testing, breakdown voltage of capacitors, and human lifespans--in all of which applications of methods for dealing with extremes have already been made.