Larry George — Active Contributor

Myron Tribus’ UCLA Statistical Thermodynamics class introduced me to entropy, -SUM[p(t)ln(p(t))]. (p(t) is the probability of state t of a system.) Professor Tribus later advocated maximum-entropy reliability estimation, because that “…best represents the current state of knowledge about a system…” [Principle of maximum entropy – Wikipedia] Caution! This article contains statistical neurohazards.

Claude Shannon wrote that entropy (log base 2) represents information bits, “…an absolute mathematical limit on how well data from the source can be losslessly compressed onto a perfectly noiseless channel.”  [Beirlant et al.]

Maximum likelihood estimation is one way to estimate reliability from data. It maximizes the probability density function of observed data, PRODUCT[p(t)], e.g., for observed failures at ages t. It is equivalent to maximize -SUM[ln(p(t)]. Maximum entropy reliability estimation maximizes entropy -SUM[p(t)ln(p(t)]. That’s same as maximizing the expected value, -SUM[p(t)ln(p(t)], of the log likelihood -ln(p(t). Fine, if you have life data, ages at failures t censored or not. [Read more…]

Ralph Evans was editor of the IEEE Transactions on Reliability from 1969 until 2004. He was a very good editor for my 1977 article, and he used me as a reviewer, because I was critical of BS and academic exercises. Ralph moved to University Retirement Community, Davis, CA. He died in 2013, https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=6587564. I wish I’d known he lived nearby so I could have visited and argued with him.

Ralph’s editorials [1 and 2] pled, “Data, Data, Oh Where Art Thou Data?” He wrote, “Field-data are largely garbage. I believe they deserve all the negative thinking possible.” “True field-data are wonderful-much better than fancy equations. Unfortunately, they are very difficult to get. Thus data from the field are largely garbage because they do not represent what really happened.” [Read more…]

My wife and I were in Firestone-Walker Brewery (Buellton, California) after Solvang Danish Days. (That’s me playing in the Solvang Village band.) My wife was comparing an Adam Firestone photo on the wall with a man at a table. I was admiring a woman seated near the bar with balletic posture. The balletic woman picked up a pizza and delivered it to the man and sat with him. My wife went over and asked the man if he was Adam Firestone? He was, with his sister Polly. While my wife chatted with them, I did not engage, because I was responsible for FORD recalling the Firestone tire sizes that Firestone did NOT recall. [Read more…]

Would you like the reliability of all your products and their service parts, without assumptions, in real environments, and with all premature failures, complaints, repairs, warranty expirations, preventive maintenance, changes, warranty extensions, etc.? Field reliability tells what really happens! [Read more…]