Experimental Design

Book excerpt: Now available in a paperback edition is a book which has been described as ``...an exceptionally lucid, easy-to-read presentation... would be an excellent addition to the collection of every analytical chemist. I recommend it with great enthusiasm.'' (Analytical Chemistry). Unlike most current textbooks, it approaches experimental design from the point of view of the experimenter, rather than that of the statistician. As the reviewer in `Analytical Chemistry' went on to say: ``Deming and Morgan should be given high praise for bringing the principles of experimental design to the level of the practicing analytical chemist.''.The book first introduces the reader to the fundamentals of experimental design. Systems theory, response surface concepts, and basic statistics serve as a basis for the further development of matrix least squares and hypothesis testing. The effects of different experimental designs and different models on the variance-covariance matrix and on the analysis of variance (ANOVA) are extensively discussed. Applications and advanced topics (such as confidence bands, rotatability, and confounding) complete the text. Numerous worked examples are presented.The clear and practical approach adopted by the authors makes the book applicable to a wide audience. It will appeal particularly to those with a practical need (scientists, engineers, managers, research workers) who have completed their formal education but who still need to know efficient ways of carrying out experiments. It will also be an ideal text for advanced undergraduate and graduate students following courses in chemometrics, data acquisition and treatment, and design of experiments.