1. A system for automatic pattern classification by ranking features within a feature set using a computer readable memory and processing capabilities, said system comprising: a feature extractor, connected to receive a plurality of exemplars, for producing an n-element feature vector for each one of said plurality of exemplars, said n-element feature vectors comprising a design set; a training set compiler, connected to receive said design set, for creating a training set; a projection space processor, connected to receive said training set created by said training set compiler, for generating a reduced feature space for said training set; and a Procrustes feature ranking processor, connected to receive reduced feature space, for determining a Procrustes angle for each feature in said feature set, wherein said Procrustes angle is the angle between said feature and its projection onto said reduced feature space, and for linearly ranking said features in increasing numerical size of their respective Procrustes angle, wherein said linearly ranked features comprise a ranked feature set.