To succeed in the lab, it is crucial to be comfortable with the math calculations that are part of everyday work. This accessible introduction to common laboratory techniques focuses on the basics, helping even readers with good math skills to practice the most frequently encountered types of problems.

Unit I: Brief Review of Some Basic Math Techniques.1. Exponents and Scientific Notation. 2. Logarithms. 3. Units of Measurement. 4. Measurements and Significant Figures. 5. Using Equations to Describe a Relationship. Unit II: Applications of Proportional Relationships in the Biology Laboratory. 6. Ratios and Proportions. 7. Unit Conversions. 8. Density. 9. Dosages. 10. Percents. 11. Introduction to Concentration Problems. 12. Preparing Laboratory Solutions That Contain One Solute. 13. Preparing Laboratory Solutions That Contain More Than One Solute. 14. Dilutions.Unit III: Describing Relationships with Equations and Graphs. 15. Graphing Linear Equations. 16. Spectrophotometry. 17. Graphing Exponential Equations. Unit IV: Introduction to Descriptive Statistics. 18. Descriptive Statistics: Measures of Central Tendency. 19. Descriptive Statistics: Measures of Dispersion. 20. Statistics and Graphical Methods of Describing Data.Unit V. Biotechnology Applications. Calculations Relating to Animal Cell Culture. 21. Common Calculations Relating to Animal Cell Culture Techniques. 22. Amount and concentration of Nucleic Acids. 23. Calculations Relating to Common Molecular Biology Techniques. 24. The Polymerase Chain Reaction. 25. Quantitative PCR. 26. Calculations Relating to Protein Purification and Analysis.