10. 



J. NITSCH, T. LENDER, and B. VAZART, eds. 1973. LA NAISSANCE DE LA FORME 



CHEZ L'EMBRYON (une reflexion entre zoologistes et botanistes) 



Soc. Botanique de France, Paris. Bull. Soc. Bot. Fr., Mem. 388 pp., 113 figs., 60 pis., 



8 tabs. 



This volume contains the proceedings of a conference held in Gif-sur-Yvette in March, 

 1972. Its most interesting feature was that it brought together botanists and zoologists. 

 Of the 28 contributions eight were by zoologists. Most of the speakers were French but 

 six came from other European countries. Most contributions are in French, but all have 

 summaries in French and English; some are no more than abstracts. 



The conference was opened with three long reviews, one by Godineau on morpho- 

 genesis and ultrastructure of the angiosperm embryo-sac, one by Clavert on polarity and 

 symmetrization in vertebrate eggs, and one by Norreel on the culture of plant tissues and 

 non-zygotic embryogenesis. These are followed by an interesting group discussion. Part 

 two deals with embryonic development generally (17 papers, 4 by zoologists), and part 

 three with the fixity or lability of axes and planes of symmetry during embryogenesis (8 

 papers, 3 by zoologists). The problems on which there was most exchange among 

 botanists and zoologists were non-zygotic embryos and the localization of geometrical 

 information in the embryo. 



Books of readings 



B. H. WILLIER and J. M. OPPENHEIMER, eds. 1974. FOUNDATIONS OF EXPERI- 

 MENTAL EMBRYOLOGY. 2nd edit. 



Hafner Press (Macmillan), New York; Collier Macmillan, London. XXIV, 277 pp.. 

 102 figs., 3 tabs. $ 4.95 (paper) 



This book, first published in 1964, is so well known that it suffices to mention the 

 additions made in this new edition. Whereas the "milestones" selected for the first edition 

 went no farther than 1939, we now have three new ones from 1954, '69, and '73. They 

 are by Levi-Montalcini et al. (on nerve growth factor), by Ito and Lowenstein (on ionic 

 communication between embryonic cells), and by Summerbell et al. (on positional 

 information in the chick limb). All are provided, as the old ones, with excellent editor's 

 comments. In addition, there is now a thoughtful, historically oriented 12-page introduc- 

 tion by the editor. 



The book is well printed and the original illustrations are well reproduced. 



THEORETICAL AND MATHEMATICAL DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY (see also 8) 



Treatises 



12 



S. L(Z)VTRUP. 1974. EPIGENETICS, a treatise on theoretical biology 



Wiley, London, etc. XVI, 548 pp., 269 figs., 13 tabs., author and subject indexes. £ 15.00 



This interesting book, which occupied the author for half a dozen years, is a valiant 

 attempt at synthesis of a vast number of data. The author modestly states that it is not 

 highly original and could probably have been written 40 years ago. His major original 

 contribution is the concept of "cell orders" and cell-type transformation, which is akin to 

 Willmer's classification of cell types and is already familiar from his earlier publications. 



This review cannot be a rigorously critical one. I will only characterize the book 

 briefly and convey my personal impressions. The author's English is very readable; it is 

 somewhat wordy in place, but never so much as to obscure the meaning. A brief 



195 



