tion depends predominantly on epigenetic mechanisms acting in ontogenesis. Evolution 

 should not be confounded with speciation, which never creates anything new. Biological 

 evolution as defined here has very little to do with natural selection in the accepted sense 

 (which is the prime factor in speciation). 



These few highlights must suffice to characterize this beautifully written book, which 

 will appeal to the theoretically minded embryologist (but probably not to the more 

 dogmatic among the molecular biologists). We must be thankful that it was given to Paul 

 Brien to complete this "scientific testament". 



14. 



P. DULLEMEIJER. 1974. CONCEPTS AND APPROACHES IN ANIMAL MORPHO- 

 LOGY 



van Gorcum, Assen (Neth.). XII. 264 dd.. 80 figs.. 4 tabs., subject index. D.fl. 67.- 



Contents: I. Historical survey; II. General methodology; III. Diversity of opinion; IV. 

 The relation between form and function; V. Methods in morphology; VI. The com- 

 parative method — bone as an example; VII. The non-comparative method — bone as 

 an example; VIII. The elements in a pattern; IX. Compromise and integration; X. The 

 change of the pattern — ontogeny; XL The change of the pattern — phylogeny; XII. 

 Interrelation and interaction 



The author of this book was trained in animal morphology by van der Klaauw and is 

 his successor at Leiden University. It is a difficult book, which is due mainly to its subject 

 and only very partially to the fact that the author does not write in his native language 

 (however, a linguistic check by an English-speaking colleague could have somewhat 

 improved its readability). It was the author's intention "to provide a background of 

 mental procedures for the daily practice of morphological investigation". One of the 

 reasons for this was "the increasing interest in what may be called structural thinking at 

 all the levels of biological investigation". The book is heavily imbued with philosophy, 

 and the concepts of holism play a particularly prominent role. The factual discussions are 

 restricted mainly to functional morphology, particularly cranio-facial morphology and 

 function. 



The first half of the book (chs. I VII) is concerned with methodology and the relation 

 between form and function. The second half then proceeds to examine the implications 

 of holism and system theory, resulting in what the author calls dynamic morphology. The 

 last chapter is a brief and preliminary excursion into the differences in approach between 

 a fundamental theory of morphology and the applications of experimental morphology. 



The book is very well produced and illustrated. It has a bibliography comprising close 

 to 800 titles. An author index would have been useful. 



15. 



P. A. WEISS. 1973. THE SCIENCE OF LIFE: the living system - a system for living 



Futura, Mount Kisco, N.Y. XVI, 137 pp., 4 figs. $ 7.95 



The author has intended this essay both for the lay public and for his fellow scientists, 

 "particularly those in various specialties, whose sectorial preoccupations reduce their 

 opportunities for acquiring a catholic and balanced view of biological phenomena and 

 problems." This, and the fact that it contains the residue of a long life of thought by a 

 leading developmental and cell biologist, is the reason why we review it here. The book 

 has been conceived in a "spirit of depolarization, of harmonizing conflicting doctrines . . . 

 The theme is the recognition and scientific validation of the rule of order that pervades 

 the universe . . ." Coming from another author, this might sound as an old man's dream, 

 but most of us know that Weiss does not say such things lightly. 



The book is best characterized by another quotation from the foreword: 

 In this book, the broader meaning of "determinacy" is subject to a critical reexamina- 

 tion, which leads to the replacement of the rigid micromechanistic ("atomistic") 



197 



