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Experiments in Physiology and Biochemistry. Vol.6
The easiest way of learning how to perform an experiment is to watch someone else demonstrating it and then, using the same equipment, to try to copy the procedure. If one fails the first time one can watch again then repeat the process; any further failures can be corrected by being shown precisely what has gone wrong. For most experiments this is the best method of learning; however, it is often impossible to follow this procedure because the specific methods are not easily available in the laboratory where one is working.
Another system is to read through a series of instructions and attempt to follow them out. This is more difficult because the writer often infers practical experience not possessed by the reader. Furthermore, there may be minor practical details that are not immediately appreciated either by the reader or the writer. Nevertheless, this is the most commonly used method of learning how to conduct an experiment, and the work published in the scientific journals provides the necessary information and stimulus.
However, it is often difficult to follow experimental procedure from the published account in a scientific paper. This is frequently the fault of an editorial system which considers the "materials and methods" to be less important than the "results and conclusion", and most authors are persuaded to present these sections in a very condensed form.
The present volume is the first of a series in which it is hoped to supply sufficient practical details to enable the reader to follow and carry out the experiments for himself. The information is presented in detail, though possibly there may be too much detail for some people and not enough for others. Initially, only those experiments that could be performed in three hours were selected for the present volume. However, it was felt that there were also many experiments that would take longer in time but which could be broken down into smaller periods and so fit in with a rather more liberal practical programme. It is intended that at a later date the three-hour class type of experiments will be collected from this and subsequent volumes and published separately.
I should welcome suggestions from authors for future contributions. A detailed scheme for the arrangement of material is presented on p. xi. Such a lay-out is only tentative and can be modified according to the particular needs of individual experiments.
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