I'm not an expert in the field of Data Science (yet ;) ), but this seemed like a very good introduction. I'm familiar with many AI & Machine Learning techniques and I know the difference between supervised and unsupervised learning, but all those basics are reviewed in the text. The author's voice is witty and engaging throughout, which helps with a topic like this.
The topics covered included Cluster Analysis (K means, Network Graphs and Community Detection), Naive Bayes, Optimization Models, Regression, Ensemble Models, Forecasting, and Outlier Detection. Each chapter walks you through some sample data that is available to download and coaches you how to manipulate it by hand using Excel. This is strictly as a hands-on learning technique; the second to last chapter is about how to do everything a lot more easily (once you understand what you are doing) using R. The conclusion addresses what you need to be as a data scientist that isn't actually data science: understanding the true problem to be solved, avoiding focusing on things that don't matter (performance & accuracy at the expense of usability), and the fact that, as a data scientist, you are not the most important part of a business -- you are there to help make the most important part better.
While the Excel coaching gets a little tired during a read through, it would probably be much better for someone who actually works the examples :) Still a good read!