Processing Metabolomics and Proteomics Data with Open Software

Before diving into the structure of mass spectrometry data, processing workflows, statistical tools, and knowledge representations, we need to have a clear idea of the purpose of a project; in the absence of a well-defined question, any further effort is pointless.The human mind tends to build empirical knowledge from individual observations and experiences.Knowledge obtained this way might be of practical use, but does not withstand rigorous scientific criteria.Sir Karl Raimund Popper (1959) highlighted such thinking errors by the use of a simple example:Now it is far from obvious, from a logical point of view, that we are justified in inferring universal statements from singular ones, no matter how numerous; for any conclusion drawn in this way may always turn out to be false: no matter how many instances of white swans we may have observed, this does not justify the conclusion that all swans are white.