Statistics for the Life Sciences (3rd Edition) [Hardcover]

Myra L. Samuels (Author), Jeffrey A. Witmer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 13, 2002 | ISBN-10: 013041316X | ISBN-13: 978-0130413161 | Edition: 3

Statistics for the Life Sciences presents the key concepts of statistics as applied to the life sciences, while incorporating tools and themes of modern data analysis. The book emphasizes interpretation of results using real data, which facilitates an understanding of statistics and data through the use of graphical data and analysis. The Third Edition has added many new sections to cover probability rules, random variables, the Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test, and two-way ANOVA and ANOVA for randomized blocks designs. In addition, there is expanded treatment of logistic regression in Chapter 12. This book is an essential statistics reference for professionals and scientists in biology, agronomy, medical and health sciences, nutrition, pharmacy, animal science, physical education, forestry, and other life sciences.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

The style of Statistics for the Life Sciences is informal and uses only minimal mathematical notation. There are no prerequisites except elementary algebra; anyone who can read a biology or chemistry textbook can read this text. It is suitable for use by graduate or undergraduate students in biology, agronomy, medical and health sciences, nutrition, pharmacy, animal science, physical education, forestry and other life sciences. Look for a new edition in 1999. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Back Cover

Statistics for the Life Sciences presents the key concepts of statistics as applied to the life sciences, while incorporating tools and themes of modern data analysis. The book emphasizes interpretation of results using real data, which facilitates an understanding of statistics and data through the use of graphical data and analysis. The Third Edition has added many new sections to cover probability rules, random variables, the Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test, and two-way ANOVA and ANOVA for randomized blocks designs. In addition, there is expanded treatment of logistic regression in Chapter 12. This book is an essential statistics reference for professionals and scientists in biology, agronomy, medical and health sciences, nutrition, pharmacy, animal science, physical education, forestry, and other life sciences.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 736 pages
• Publisher: Prentice Hall; 3 edition (December 13, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 013041316X
• ISBN-13: 978-0130413161
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 8.4 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #115,822 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent textbook that teaches by example, April 16, 2003

By 

David Bird (Montreal, Quebec Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Statistics for the Life Sciences (2nd Edition) (Hardcover)

In a word - wow. This is an outstanding textbook for undergraduate biology students. The number of practical, real life examples exceeds anything else I have seen in a statistics book, permitting the student to follow theory immediately with concrete practice. Examples are drawn from all axes of biology as well - physiology, biogeochemistry, pharmacology, microbiology, animal behaviour and more. I have been disappointed with previous textbooks which fall down in the following ways: 1) too much emphasis on the mathematics of calculation, or 2) lack of practical introductory treatment of moderately advanced topics which are nonetheless necessary to practitioners. This book for me strikes a very good balance between understanding the underpinnings without getting lost in equations, and getting your hands dirty with data in order to learn by example. Coverage is as wide as necessary today: introduction to logistic regression, and a clear treatment of interaction in two-way ANOVA. I do note that multiple regression is not touched. The sole drawback: sticker shock. It will be difficult for students to pay for a book that costs about $100 US. But at least you get what you pay for in this case.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars definitely oversimplified., December 27, 2006

By 

J. Chang - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Statistics for the Life Sciences (3rd Edition) (Hardcover)

I took an AP statistics course in high school that went into much better detail than this book ever did. With this book I could not have made it out with the understanding I currently have of statistics without having taken that class years ago. Our instructor was pretty much incompetent, so it was a true test of how well the textbook got the job done. I watched my classmates really struggle with this book. The problem is that the concepts of different test statistics and what they actually mean are too oversimplified. The book does a great job of teaching how through an extensive amount of examples, but not why, and not enough instances or explanations of what should be done when problems deviate from the given example. It is really important in statistics to know how to handle different kinds of data and which tests to apply to them, but the book in my opinion did a poor job of distinguishing and explaining the different types of tests, as well as how the results should be analyzed. I would definitely recommend looking elsewhere for a good statistics textbook. When it comes to mathematics, theory (knowing why a problem is solved the way it is and why it works) is just as important as being able to correctly solve the problem.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars easy introductory to statistics, January 2, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Statistics for the Life Sciences (Hardcover)

I recently finished using Samuel's book in a dual level statistics course. As an undergraduate I found the material basic and extremely easy to follow. From the perspective of a student who has never had a formal statistics course, I found this book to be simple. Problems are relevant to the life sciences. I perhaps expected more challenging concepts and problems to have been presented-a bit disappointing.