README.md: add 'About the Lesson' section

README.md

@@ -1,11 +1,21 @@
 # Programming with Python
+
 [![GitHub release](https://img.shields.io/github/release/swcarpentry/python-novice-inflammation.svg)](https://github.com/swcarpentry/python-novice-inflammation/releases)
 [![Create a Slack Account with us](https://img.shields.io/badge/Create_Slack_Account-The_Carpentries-071159.svg)](https://swc-slack-invite.herokuapp.com/)
 [![Slack Status](https://img.shields.io/badge/Slack_Channel-swc--py--inflammation-E01563.svg)](https://swcarpentry.slack.com/messages/C9Y0L6MF0)
 
 An introduction to Python for non-programmers using inflammation data.
 
-Rendered version of the lesson: <https://swcarpentry.github.io/python-novice-inflammation/>
+## About the Lesson
+
+This lesson teaches novice programmers to write modular code to perform data analysis using Python. The emphasis, however, is on teaching language-agnostic principles of programming such as automation with loops and encapsulation with functions, see [Best Practices for Scientific Computing][best-practices] and [Good enough practices in scientific computing][good-enough-practices] to learn more.
+
+The example used in this lesson analyses a set of 12 files with simulated inflammation data collected from a trial for a new treatment for arthritis. Learners are shown how it is better to automate analysis using functions instead of repeating analysis steps manually.
+
+The rendered version of the lesson: <https://swcarpentry.github.io/python-novice-inflammation/>
+
+This lesson is also available in [R][R] and [MATLAB][MATLAB].
+
 
 ## Contributing
 [![Travis Build Status](https://travis-ci.org/swcarpentry/python-novice-inflammation.svg?branch=gh-pages)](https://travis-ci.org/swcarpentry/python-novice-inflammation)
@@ -39,3 +49,7 @@ To cite this lesson, please consult with [CITATION](CITATION)
 [valentina_staneva]: http://software-carpentry.org/team/#staneva_valentina
 [greg_wilson]: https://github.com/gvwilson
 [swc_history]: https://software-carpentry.org/scf/history/
+[best-practices]: http://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.1001745
+[good-enough-practices]: http://journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol/article?id=10.1371/journal.pcbi.1005510
+[R]: https://github.com/swcarpentry/r-novice-inflammation
+[MATLAB]: https://github.com/swcarpentry/matlab-novice-inflammation