Therese M. Donovan, Charles Woodson Welden
Sinauer Associates, Sunderland, MA
2001, 556 pages
ISBN: 0878931562

Presented as a supplement to the primary text in an undergraduate or a beginning graduate course in ecology, evolution, or conservation biology, this textbook is primarily about using a spreadsheet program (mainly, Microsoft Excel) to build biological models. It creates models to help students learn some basic and advanced concepts in ecology evolution, conservation biology, landscape ecology, and statistics. Two primers were important in the development exercises for this book: Nick Gotelli’s Primer to Ecology (Sinauer, 2001) and Dan Hartl’s Primer of Population Genetics (3rd ed., Sinauer, 2000). These well-written books gave the basic mathematical background to develop many of the ecology and evolution models presented in the Donovan and Weldon book.

This textbook is divided into three parts: Spreadsheets and Statistics; Ecology; and Evolution. Part 1 is a crucial and well-designed section that shows basic spreadsheet use and commands. It offers valuable start-up hints and tips for beginners, as well as for experienced spreadsheet users. I found the Spreadsheet Hints and Tips section very helpful; it included well-explained, practical tips for correct use of the spreadsheet program and a good overall guide for the exercises that followed.

Additionally, Part 1 offers mathematical functions and graphs, statistic distribution, and sampling concepts and exercises. Part 2 (Ecology) consists of 22 exercises, ranging from population models and island biogeography to habitat selection and succession. Part 3 (Evolution) consists of 15 exercises, ranging from Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium and gene flow to sexual selection and genetic drift. The authors selected exercises that apply to basic ecology and evolution concepts and included more advanced, graduate-level exercises, which are especially beneficial for undergraduate students.

Each exercise consists of an introduction followed by instructions and annotations that guide the student through the development of the model, and then a series of questions. In each introduction, background concepts are introduced efficiently without getting into too much detail, giving this book the feel of a manual but taking into consideration the importance of concept–knowledge to the student. The introduction provides more generic instructions on how to set up the spreadsheet, and annotations on each exercise provide the actual spreadsheet formulas and a complete explanation of the logic behind the formula. The last portion of each chapter has a set of questions that challenge the student to exercise the model and explore it more deeply. The answers to the questions are posted on the book’s Web site, helping the students to clarify questions and/or improve their models.

In this book, the authors not only introduce and organize the concepts in efficient and practical ways, making it more user-friendly, but they also challenge and stimulate the student to go beyond the exercises. This is important in the initial formation of new scientists: stimulating the students to use tools available to them, pose questions, solve problems, and explore and develop new and exciting questions. Although designed for undergraduate and beginning graduate students, this book would be useful for thesis and dissertation project development, especially in the initial development of models in actual research projects. Overall, this book offers a great way for students to understand not only ecology and evolution but also the process of scientific investigation.

Diana I. Ortiz
Center for Tropical Diseases
University of Texas Medical Branch
Galveston, TX
American Entomologist
Vol. 49, No.3, Fall 2003