Preface This book celebrates the importance of the question; it is not meant to be a collection of facts or procedures. The writing of this book was inspired by 16 years of queries from the research community. The con- tributors and i have tried to meet two primary objectives Enhance the reader's ability to identify the critical elements of any technique, reagent, or procedure, in order to address questions for which documented answers might be unavailable Clarify theory and practice that is taken for granted yet fre quently misapplied /hy is this book organized as a series of questions? For one, the esearchers(and people in general) who greatly impress me are those who when faced with a seemingly impassible dilemma, can identify the question(s) that point the way to an eventual solution. Second, I'm fairly certain that I was most useful to others when all I did was to help them identify the questions that enabled them to solve their own Who should read this book? I can only say that the contributing authors, many of whom work within a technical support group or have previously done so, were asked to compose their chapters based on uestions that they were chronically asked or based on questions that they wish had been asked by those requesting assistance. What are the strategies for working with this book? While Ive been arping on the importance of the question, you might only have time to locate an answer. For readers in search of quick information, you might want to begin your search with a review of the index. A second approach would be to review the tables of content at the beginning of each chapter, which list the questions addressed within them I strongly recommend that at some point you read through a chapter of interest, focusing only on the questions being asked and the sub headings contained in the answer. The authors and I would like to think that this information and the questions they inspire will provide insight and perspective to help you solve problems that go beyond the content of this bookThis book celebrates the importance of the question; it is not meant to be a collection of facts or procedures. The writing of this book was inspired by 16 years of queries from the research community.The con￾tributors and I have tried to meet two primary objectives: • Enhance the reader’s ability to identify the critical elements of any technique, reagent, or procedure, in order to address questions for which documented answers might be unavailable. • Clarify theory and practice that is taken for granted yet fre￾quently misapplied. Why is this book organized as a series of questions? For one, the researchers (and people in general) who greatly impress me are those who when faced with a seemingly impassible dilemma, can identify the question(s) that point the way to an eventual solution. Second, I’m fairly certain that I was most useful to others when all I did was to help them identify the questions that enabled them to solve their own problems. Who should read this book? I can only say that the contributing authors, many of whom work within a technical support group or have previously done so, were asked to compose their chapters based on questions that they were chronically asked, or based on questions that they wish had been asked by those requesting assistance. What are the strategies for working with this book? While I’ve been harping on the importance of the question, you might only have time to locate an answer. For readers in search of quick information, you might want to begin your search with a review of the index. A second approach would be to review the tables of content at the beginning of each chapter, which list the questions addressed within them. I strongly recommend that at some point you read through a chapter of interest, focusing only on the questions being asked and the sub￾headings contained in the answer.The authors and I would like to think that this information and the questions they inspire will provide insight and perspective to help you solve problems that go beyond the content of this book. ix Preface