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Inferring Phylogenies Reviews

Customer Rating:
Summary: Great book for phylogeny reference
Comment: Felsenstein's book is great as a reference when looking up the major concepts and tests for phylogeny.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Good as a refresher for the initiated, but not for beginners at all
Comment: This new explanation of phylogenetic methods contains a good discussion of the merits and potential failings of many of the methods currently used to study phylogenetics. It may be very good for computer science students, who have a better grasp of the mathematics. It may also be good for biologists well versed in biostatistics, who want to know why systematists use certain, less easily handled, analytical methods. However, it is very difficult reading for other scientists who do not fully understand the complex math presented in the text. It also does not give a concinct summary of the assumptions and failings of each method. The bottom line is that this book is good for experts who easily understand algorithms, but not good for students who don't have a good handle on such things.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: very complete reference book
Comment: Inferring phylogenies was much anticipated by the large audience which has used Felsenstein's programs, and his website which reviews and categorizes applied tree building and population genetics programs.
This book is very complete, and functions well as a reference book. It is not a book that would read from start to finish, and probably would not be the best text available for a general upper division course. We have used selected chapters for supplementary readings when appropriate in reading groups. However, due to its completeness, this would be one title that I would recommend that most people working with phylogenetics would require for their bookshelf.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: not well written
Comment: This book, although apparently containing everything, is written in a very opaque style which makes it impossible to simply read through. It probably is a good reference to look in for particular topics, but it is not at all usable as an introduction.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: More than what the title implies
Comment: As one would expect, the majority of this book deals with the various algorithms for phylogenetic analysis (such as the various versions of parsimony, distance based methods, and likelihood methods), but the book covers more topics that this. In particular, the book covers methods of tree comparison such as the KHT and SH tests, which I found particularly welcome because the current literature covering these tests often are rather opaque to those who haven't followed it since their conception.

The only weak thing about about the book (besides the many typos, which should be fixed in the new printing anyway), is Felsenstein's rather acrimonious treatment of Bayesian methods, in which the Bayesian use of priors is criticized on philosophical grounds.

I was annoyed by this not because I'm a card-carrying Bayesian (which I'm certainly not), but rather because I would have thought that Felsenstein of all people, whose primary opponents in the 1980's were the members of the philosophically-minded Willi Hennig crowd (who always claimed that parsimony was "philosophically right" even when it gave the wrong answer), would realize the futility of arguing scientific issues on philosophical grounds. Bayesian methods, as all scientific methods, will win or lose based on how well they work in practice, despite turgid philosophizing on both sides of the issue.

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