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Past is free software for scientific data analysis, with functions for data manipulation, plotting, univariate and multivariate statistics, ecological analysis, time series and spatial analysis, morphometrics and stratigraphy.

Past comes with a straightforward approach when it comes to data analysis: just import your data and then apply various manipulation techniques in order to extract relevant statistical information. To conclude, Past is a great tool to have around when dealing with scientific data.

The Past user interface is represented by a single window where you can visualize the imported data. Note that Past can extract information from text files, and you get to decide how it should be organized. The program comes with a large variety of analysis techniques that can be applied with just a few clicks. The program allows you to transform the data by subtracting the mean value or converting the values to 10-base logarithms. Advanced options such as Box-Cox transformations enable you to normalize the data distribution.

The statistics section includes univariate and multivariate analysis methods such as variance analysis, intraclass correlation or canonical correspondence. Moreover, the app is able to use linear or polynomial models and analyze the data diversity or geometric correlation. Although the basic statistical indicators such as mean, median or deviation are available, the program requires experience with data analysis in order to interpret the results of each analysis.