Author, scientist and historian
Statistical and Data Handling Skills in Biology
I wrote my statistics book to demystify a subject that many biologists find intimidating. I explain the tortured logic of statistical testing. I present readers with simple decision charts to enable them to choose which statistical test to apply. And I show how they can perform these tests using common statistical packages. Many student have found this enlightening, so the book has gone through four editions.
The latest edition was co-written with Magnus Johnson, who provided instructions for the statistical package R.
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Solid Biomechanics summarises the research field in which I have been involved throughout my career. It presents the wide range of materials and structures that organisms have evolved to enable them to withstand the mechanical forces to which they are subjected and to move about. It showcases the sheer ingenuity and effectiveness of natural engineering.
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Written with my colleague Liz Sheffield, and illustrated by Fred Rumsey, Plant Life presents plants as living, struggling beings. It presents the whole diversity of plant life that lives on our planet and shows how and why these photosynthetic organisms have evolved to fill such a wide range of niches and thrive in such a wide range of environments.
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Problem Solving in Environmental Biology
For my first book, my colleague Bill Bailey and I collected together a range examination problems that we and our colleagues had set and presented them, along with solutions and advice about dealing with data and interpreting graphs. The book is an ideal source for lecturers to present students with information on real world environmental problems, and to teach them how scientists can investigate and tackle them.
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