Since its introduction in 1972, Stein's method has offered a completely
novel way of evaluating the quality of normal approximations. Through
its characterizing equation approach, it is able to provide
approximation error bounds in a wide variety of situations, even in the
presence of complicated dependence. Use of the method thus opens the
door to the analysis of random phenomena arising in areas including
statistics, physics, and molecular biology. Though Stein's method for
normal approximation is now mature, the literature has so far lacked a
complete self contained treatment. This volume contains thorough
coverage of the method's fundamentals, includes a large number of recent
developments in both theory and applications, and will help accelerate
the appreciation, understanding, and use of Stein's method by providing
the reader with the tools needed to apply it in new situations. It
addresses researchers as well as graduate students in Probability,
Statistics and Combinatorics.