The Way of Science: A Primer for the Beginning Scientist

Designed for students late in their undergraduate career or early in their graduate training, The Way of Science; a Primer for the Beginning Scientist by Camp and Wooten provides a foundation of critical knowledge for the budding scientist. It begins with the philosophical underpinnings of the modern approach to the science method including important milestones in the history of the development of science as a discipline and major thinkers behind the modern philosophy of science. Camp and Wooten further guide the student through the concepts of experimentation and analysis with a practical introduction to experimental design as well as common statistical analyses used by practicing scientists. They go on to provide instructions for giving formal presentations including oral and poster presentations as well as how to write and publish a scientific article. They also give tips on successfully reaching the next step in a student’s career, whether it be acceptance into a master’s or doctoral program or securing gainful employment. Relying on Bloom’s Taxonomy of educational learning objectives from beginning to end, the authors effectively provide a path for the beginning student to reach his or her goal of becoming a truly successful scientist.