Book excerpt: With its engaging and conversational tone, Essential Biostatistics: A Nonmathematical Approach provides a clear introduction to statistics for students in a wide range of fields, and a concise statistics refresher for scientists and professionals who need to interpret statistical results. It explains the ideas behind statistics in nonmathematical terms, offers perspectives on how to interpret published statistical results, and points out common conceptual traps to avoid. It can be used as a stand-alone text or as a supplement to a traditional statistics textbook.