Lennon or McCartney? Can statistical analysis solve an authorship puzzle?

Stylometry—the use of statistical techniques to determine authorship—is best known for identifying the Unabomber as Theodor Kaczynski and revealing that Shakespeare collaborated with Christopher Marlowe on the Henry IV play cycle. In textual analysis, it is not the unusual word choice that betrays the hidden voice, but the habitual—the recurring patterns of common words, such as prepositions, that mark the probable identity of one person alone.