The statistics of writing style Numerical data can distinguish different types of writing and, sometimes, even individual authors. Here are data on the percent of words of 1 to 15 letters used in articles in Popular Science magazine:33 Length: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Percent: 3.6 14.8 18.7 16.0 12.5 8.2 8.1 5.9 4.4 3.6 2.1 0.9 0.6 0.4 0.2

(a) Make a histogram of this distribution. Describe its shape, center, and spread.

(b) How does the distribution of lengths of words used in Popular Science compare with the similar distribution for Shakespeare’s plays in Exercise 52? Look in particular at short words (2, 3, and 4 letters) and very long words (more than 10 letters).