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www.elsevier.com/locate/jembe
Journal of Experimental Marine Bio
Book review
Graeme D. Ruxton, Nick Colegrave, Experimental
Design for the Life Sciences, Oxford University
Press, Oxford, UK, 2003, ISBN: 0199252327
(pback), GBP 14.99, US$25.95
This text on experimental design is written
especially for undergraduate students, irrespective of
mathematical background or area of specialisation.
The authors report that the aim of this book is to
provide an introduction to experimental design to
those who have never before thought of experimental
design. They acknowledge that the text does not cover
all areas of design exhaustively. Its objective is to
provide the reader with simple guidelines for design-
ing experiments and also with knowledge required to
tackle the more advanced texts.
We found this book very easy to read, with a
relaxed style, a touch of humour and a clear structure.
Divided into just six chapters, it begins by high-
lighting the importance of good experimental design
and progresses to more detailed aspects of specific
types of design. Each chapter is well structured,
opening with a statement of the aims of the section
and concluding with a summary of the main points.
Using separate boxes for examples and definitions
ensured these features did not get lost in the text, or
0022-0981/$ - see front matter D 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.jembe.2004.09.008
make it too complicated. We especially liked the use
of examples. It seemed that whenever a difficult
concept appeared, it was immediately made clear in a
life-like example. The diagrams included are laid out
clearly and simply. There were no difficult mathe-
matical concepts to grasp, yet neither was the
importance of statistics understated. The importance
of having a good understanding of the underlying
biology of the system being studied was also
emphasised.
This book will be of most use to undergraduate
students needing a general understanding of exper-
imental design, or to those trying to teach them. It
does not go into great detail about some areas of
design or include any explanation of the statistical
procedures required to analyse data, but does provide
a helpful bibliography for further reading.
Amy Palmer*
Amy Smoothey
Sarra Hinshaw
Centre for Research on Ecological Impacts of
Coastal Cities, Marine Ecology Laboratories, A11,
University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
E-mail address: [email protected].
*Corresponding author.
logy and Ecology 314 (2005) 113
