We may learn from our mistakes, but Deborah Mayo argues that, where experimental knowledge is concerned, we haven't begun to learn enough. "Error and the Growth of Experimental Knowledge" launches a vigorous critique of the subjective Bayesian view of statistical inference, and proposes Mayo's own error-statistical approach as a more robust framework for the epistemology of experiment. Mayo genuinely addresses the needs of researchers who work with statistical analysis, and simultaneously engages the basic philosophical problems of objectivity and rationality.
Mayo has long argued for an account of learning from error that goes far beyond detecting logical inconsistencies. In this book, she presents her complete program for how we learn about the world by being "shrewd inquisitors of error, white gloves off." Her tough, practical approach will be important to philosophers, historians, and sociologists of science, and will be welcomed by researchers in the physical, biological, and social sciences whose work depends upon statistical analysis.

Lab Tutor provides a hands-on instruction to the use of laboratory computers for data acquisition, experimental control, and on-line data analysis. It can be used as a primary textbook for a course on laboratory computers, as a supplement in traditional laboratory courses, or as a self-guided tutorial for those learning to use laboratory computers on their own. Lab Tutor covers the basic concepts applicable to any hardware/software system and also includes specific instruction and examples in the use of National Instruments' LabView graphical programming language. Topics covered include digital-to-analog conversion, analog-to-digital conversion, digital interfacing, GPIB, and conventional laboratory instruments. There is also a practical discussion of statistics and simple digital signal processing including extensive examples. Lab Tutor allows new users to make effective use of laboratory computers with as little as 10 hours of effort and to be quite accomplished practitioners with less than 40 hours of effect. Lab Tutor comes in both printed book and hypercard formats. The printed version offers the convenience and readability of an ordinary book. This book is intended for studen

THE SCIENTIFIC ATTITUDE presents a systematic account of the cognitive and social features of science. Written by an experimental biologist actively engaged in research, the work is unique in its attempt to understand science in terms of day-to-day practice. The book goes beyond the traditional description of science that focuses on method and logic to characterize the scientific attitude as a way of looking at the world.
Professor Grinnell uses examples from biomedical research to describe science at three interdependent levels. At the first level, the individual scientist makes observations, formulates hypotheses, and does experiments. The scientist's thought style determines what can be seen and what it will appear to mean. At the second level, scientists participate in social institutions such as graduate programs, research groups, journal editorial boards, and grant review panels. Each of these institutions tries to promote its own distinctive collective thought style. Finally, at the third level, scientists participate in the world of everyday life beyond science, a world that continuously influences and is influenced by the activities and discoveries of science.

Designed for physics students treating the underlying basis for modern techniques and the devices used, this timely survey describes current experimental methods in a clear and accessible text. This up-to-date volume provides an essential part of undergraduate physics training; until now, students were often expected to learn many of these methods in the laboratory without proper introduction. The broad coverage of available techniques includes discussion of state-of-the-art electronic equipment, as well as such topics as discrete semiconductor devices, signal processing, thermometry, optical components, nuclear instrumentation, and x-ray diffraction methods. Professor Dunlap's text will serve not only as a complete introduction for majors but also as a reference work for technicians throughout a professional career. In addition to tutorial discussions presented, tables of numerical data and constants are included, further enhancing the book as a permanent reference.

This bestselling DIY handbook now features new and expanded projects, enabling ordinary folks to construct 16 awesome ballistic devices in their garage or basement workshops using inexpensive household or hardware store materials and this step-by-step guide. Clear instructions, diagrams, and photographs show how to build projects ranging from the simple match-powered rocket to the more complex tabletop catapult and the offbeat Cincinnati fire kite. The classic potato cannon has a new evil twin--the piezo-electric spud gun and the electromagnetic pipe gun has joined the company of such favorites as the tennis ball mortar. With a strong emphasis on safety, the book also gives tips on troubleshooting, explains the physics behind the projects, and profiles scientists and extraordinary experimenters such as Alfred Nobel, Robert Goddard, and Isaac Newton. This book will be indispensable for the legions of backyard toy-rocket launchers and fireworks fanatics who wish every day was the fourth of July.

A fresh approach to visualization practices in the sciences that considers novel forms of imaging technology and draws on recent theoretical perspectives on representation. Representation in Scientific Practice, published by the MIT Press in 1990, helped coalesce a long-standing interest in scientific visualization among historians, philosophers, and sociologists of science and remains a touchstone for current investigations in science and technology studies. This volume revisits the topic, taking into account both the changing conceptual landscape of STS and the emergence of new imaging technologies in scientific practice. It offers cutting-edge research on a broad array of fields that study information as well as short reflections on the evolution of the field by leading scholars, including some of the contributors to the 1990 volume. The essays consider the ways in which viewing experiences are crafted in the digital era; the embodied nature of work with digital technologies; the constitutive role of materials and technologies-from chalkboards to brain scans-in the production of new scientific knowledge; the metaphors and images mobilized by communities of practice; and the status and significance of scientific imagery in professional and popular culture. Contributors Morana Alac, Michael Barany, Anne Beaulieu, Annamaria Carusi, Catelijne Coopmans, Lorraine Daston, Sarah de Rijcke, Joseph Dumit, Emma Frow, Yann Giraud, Aud Sissel Hoel, Martin Kemp, Bruno Latour, John Law, Michael Lynch, Donald MacKenzie, Cyrus Mody, Natasha Myers, Rachel Prentice, Arie Rip, Martin Ruivenkamp, Lucy Suchman, Janet Vertesi, Steve Woolgar

Vast progress in the area of computational chemistry has been achieved in the last decade. Theoretical methods such as quantum mechanics, molecular dynamics and statistical mechanics have been successfully used to characterize chemical systems and to design new materials, drugs and chemicals. The reviews presented in this volume discuss the current advances in computational methodologies and their applications. The areas covered include materials science, nanotechnology, inorganic and biological systems. The major thrust of the book is to bring timely overviews of new findings and methods applied in the rapidly changing field of computational chemistry.

How can a scientist or policy analyst summarize and evaluate what is already known about a particular topic? This book offers practical guidance. The amount and diversity of information generated by academic and policy researchers in the contemporary world is staggering. How is an investigator to cope with the tens or even hundreds of studies on a particular problem? How can conflicting findings be reconciled? Richard Light and David Pillemer have developed both general guidelines and step-by-step procedures that can be used to synthesize existing data. They show how to apply quantitative methods, including the newest statistical procedures and simple graphical displays, to evaluate a mass of studies and combine separate data sets. At the same time, they insist on the value of qualitative information, of asking the right questions, and of considering the context in which research is conducted. The authors use exemplary reviews in education, psychology, health, and the policy sciences to illustrate their suggestions. Written in nontechnical language and addressed to the beginning researcher as well as to the practicing professional, Summing Up will set a new standard for valid research reviews and is likely to become a methodological classic.

The International Conference of Computational Methods in Sciences and Engineering (ICCMSE) is unique in its kind. It regroups original contributions from all fields of the traditional Sciences, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Medicine and all branches of Engineering. The aim of the conference is to bring together computational scientists from several disciplines in order to share methods and ideas.
More than 370 extended abstracts have been submitted for consideration for presentation in ICCMSE 2004. From these, 289 extended abstracts have been selected after international peer review by at least two independent reviewers.

The increasingly sophisticated and powerful information technology we are creating plays an ever more prominent role in facilitating interaction and cooperation in everyday life. The time has come to harness it in the service of scientific research. This pathbreaking book describes the technical and social challenges and opportunities of electronic collaboration and offers specific examples of the ways in which it has not only facilitated but in some cases enabled work by scientists. Key players all, the chapter authors illuminate the general issues with their first-hand accounts. Very few researchers today can work in isolation. "Electronic Collaboration in Science" provides the first clear road map for all whose investigations are leading them into this fascinating new multidisciplinary domain.

Describes the latest developments in the scaling-up and application of chromatographic operations and demonstrates that production-scale chromatography is a powerful and invaluable separation process. The book covers every important process design and reveals actual, immediately applicable techniques and is designed to appeal to design, chemical/biochemical, and research and development engineers, process development managers, bioprocess technologists, analytical and clinical chemists and biochemists, pharmacists, and upper-level undergraduate, graduate, and continuing-education students in these disciplines.

'Laboratory Design Guide' takes the reader through the complex stages of laboratory design and construction, offering practical advice and detailed examples.
Brian Griffin's working manual covers the latest designs for new and evolving laboratory practices and equipment and includes current and future requirements for laboratories such as automation. Case studies illustrate the points made and represent the international view of the principles of laboratory design.
'Laboratory Design Guide' will prove invaluable to all those responsible for the design of laboratory buildings: the client; architect; engineer; building project manager and scientist.
Brian Griffin is a full-time laboratory design consultant. His 15 years' experience in this field have resulted in many published articles on the subject and numerous lectures to laboratory managers and scientists. This close contact with the industry has increased Brian Griffin's awareness of the trends in laboratory practice and the need for effective design of new facilities.
Working design manual for all members of the lab design team
Shows the design process from start to finish
Incorporates the very latest designs for new and evolving laboratory practices and equipment

Volume 3 of Computational Chemistry: Reviews of Current Trends adds well to the first two volumes of the series, presenting results of current developments in the methodologies and the applications of computational chemistry methods. The topics covered include fundamentals and applications of multireference Brillouin -- Wigner coupled-cluster theory, as well as recent developments in quantum-chemical modeling of the interaction of solute and solvent.

The book also features a review of recent developments and applications of the model-core-potential method. The application of computational methods to gas-phase chemical reactions is discussed. In particular, stratospheric bromine chemistry and its relationship to depletion of stratospheric ozone is examined by theoretical methods. Also, fundamental phenomena of bonding in gas-phase radical-sulfur compounds are presented.

Finally, the book gives a review of a hot area -- chemistry on the Internet. In addition to a survey of relevant chemistry Internet resources, an overview of the current state of Internet application is provided.

Chromatography and all the related separation techniques are experimental in their origin and justification. However, the spectacular progress made in this area since World War II has given rise to a theoretical underpinning. The present book covers the current status of the research area and places it in perspective with the general concepts of the fields of physical chemistry involved. The ASI lecturers/authors - well known leaders in their fields - have written presentations at the graduate level, accessible to all those who have a good general background in the thermodynamics and mass transfer theory of phase equilibria. The book should be useful to young scientists and engineers who wish to access the current frontiers in chromatography and other separation sciences.

This laboratory manual is ideal for introductory, two-semester anatomy and physiology students. This new edition works well with any textbook and includes complete explanations of essential information. Clear, step-by-step procedures for each exercise are accompanied by detailed illustrations and labeling exercises. The main dissection specimen is the fetal pig.

In this volume, the authors begin by defining usability, advocating and explaining the methods of usability engineering and reviewing many techniques for assessing and assuring usablity throughout the development process. They then follow all the steps in planning and conducting a usability test, analyzing data and using the results to improve both products and processes. Using examples from many types of products and tests, the book discusses the full range of testing options from quick studies with few subjects to more formal tests with carefully designed controls. The authors discuss the place of usability laboratories in testing as well as the skills needed to conduct a test. Included are forms to use or modify to conduct a usability test, as well as layouts of existing labs that should help the reader build his or her own.

Aiming to provide a reference and general introductory volume for industrial and academic scientists, this text provides a practical guide to automated processes in the laboratory. It can also serve as a text for an introductory or advanced course on laboratory automation. The reader can focus on a particular technology and obtain sufficient information or read the entire book for a comprehensive view of the field of lab automation. The book covers the many forms of laboratory automation, ranging from robotics, which can allow for automated sample preparation and subsequent analysis, to flow injection analysis and other forms of automated systems. The final facet of many automated systems, LIMS, is also addressed.

There have been important developments in the last decade: computers are faster and more powerful, code features are enhanced and more efficient, and larger molecules can be studied ? not only in vacuum but also in a solvent or in crystal. Researchers are using new techniques to study larger systems and obtain more accurate results. This is impetus for the development of more efficient methods based on the first-principle multi-level simulations appropriate for complex species. Among the cutting-edge methods and studies reviewed in this decennial volume of the series are the Density Functional Theory (DFT) method, vibrational electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS), computational models of the reaction rate theory, the nuclear magnetic resonance triplet wavefunction model (NMRTWM) and biological reactions that benefit from computational studies.

Designed to stimulate curiosity & insight, & to clearly connect lecture & laboratory concepts & techniques, this volume contains experiements that maximise a discovery-orientated approach & minimize personal hazards & ecological impact. Use of chromates, barium, lead, mercury & nickel salts has been avoided.

Focused, streamlined, and designed throughout to meet the needs of the one-term GOB Lab course, this manual features 14 easy-to-follow experiments (6 general chemistry, 4 organic chemistry, and 4 biochemistry) that include clear directions and illustrate the key concepts important for an allied health career. Pre- and post-lab questions for every experiment test the reader's ability to apply concepts.

This market-leading manual for the first-year physics laboratory course offers a wide range of class-tested experiments designed specifically for use in small to mid-size lab programs. A series of integrated experiments emphasizes the use of computerized instrumentation and includes a set of "computer-assisted experiments" that allow you to gain experience with modern equipment. By analyzing data through two different methods, learners gain a greater understanding of the concepts behind the experiments. The Eighth Edition is updated with four new economical labs and thirty new Pre-Lab Demonstrations, designed to capture interest prior to the lab and requiring only widely available materials and items.