Primer of Biostatistics, 5th ed

Stanton A. Glantz, PhD. 489 pp. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill; 2001. US rate: $34.95. ISBN 0-07-137946-0. Do we really need another biostatistics textbook? They seem to be being produced hand over fist, and on receiving this one to review, my bias usurped my initial investigation. As a biostatistician, I did not expect to learn anything, and I was especially not looking forward to the same presentation of the same material that purported to do so in a new, different, innovative, applied, or practical manner. Nonetheless, taking the advice of Herbert Spencer not to allow “contempt prior to investigation” to perpetuate my ignorance, I reviewed the …