Doing Science : Design, Analysis, and Communication of Scientific Research

Doing Science offers a rare compendium of practical advice based on how working scientists pursue their craft. It covers each stage of research, from formulating questions and gathering data to developing experiments and analyzing results and finally to the many ways for presenting results.Drawing on his extensive experience both as a researcher and a research mentor, Ivan Valiela has written a lively and concise survey of everything a beginning scientist needs to know to succeed in the field. He includes chapters on scientific data, statistical methods, and experimental designs, andmuch of the book is devoted to presenting final results. He gives valuable suggestions for improving scientific writing, for preparing scientific talks, and devotes three chapters to hands-on advice for presenting data in charts, tables, and graphs. Anyone beginning a scientific career, or anyonewho advises students in research, will find Doing Science an invaluable source of advice.

Ivan Valiela is a professor in the Boston University Marine Program at the Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, MA.