The Phylogenetic Handbook: A Practical Approach to DNA and Protein Phylogeny.—Marco Salemi and Anne-Mieke Vandamme (editors). 2003. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 406 pp. ISBN 0-521-80390-X. US$75 (hardcover).

Abstract

Data analysis is a tricky business for biologists, compared to the business of collecting data. For example, in laboratory work there are usually “gold standards” that have been developed, and these can be written down as an explicit protocol for anyone and everyone to follow. Even if you do not understand the protocol, you can still follow its instructions, secure in the knowledge that if you are even half-competent, then the results should be reliable. Thus, data can be collected to a high standard, in the sense that it is both accurate and precise, and this can be done reliably, in the sense that it is repeatable.