molecular level and advances through subcellular units, cells 

 and tissues to the whole plant. The first section covers about 

 one third of the book and considers enzymes, cell membranes, the 

 major plant hormones, other chemical messengers, and environmen- 

 tal factors. The next longest section is that devoted to the 

 whole plant. All major aspects are duly considered, except re- 

 generation from single cells. The treatment is restricted mainly 

 to higher plants. 



The figures are judiciously selected and are provided with 

 lengthy captions, making them more or less independent from the 

 text. At the end of the book there is a good eight-page classi- 

 fied bibliography for further reading, consisting of books and 

 review articles in English and German. 



T.A.STEEVES and I.M.SUSSEX. 1972. PATTERNS IN PLANT DEVELOPMENT 

 Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs. XVIII, 302 pp., 121 figs., 4 

 tabs., combined subject and author index. $ 10.95, £ 5.- 



Contents: 1. Development in the vascular plants; 2. Embryo- 

 genesis — beginnings of development; 3. Experimental and ana- 

 lytical studies of embryogenesis ; 4. The structure of the 

 shoot apex; 5. Analytical studies of the shoot apex; 6. Exper- 

 imental investigations on the shoot apex; 7» Organogenesis in 

 the shoot — leaf origin and position; 8. Organogenesis in the 

 shoot — the determination of leaves and branches; 9. Organo- 

 genesis in the shoot — later stages of leaf development; 10. 

 Shoot expansion; 11. Modified shoot development and flowering; 

 12. The root; 13. Differentiation of the plant body — early 

 stages; 14. Differentiation of the plant body — later stages; 

 15. Secondary growth — the vascular cambium; 16. Secondary 

 growth — experimental studies on the cambium; 17. The cellular 

 basis of organization 



This book is the companion volume of a book in the same series, 

 entitled Control mechanisms in plant development (Galston and 

 Davies, 1970, reviewed in Gen. Embryol. Inf. Serv. vol. 14, 1971). 

 This enabled the authors of the present book to adhere strictly 

 to a structural viewpoint. As a result, they could go much more 

 deeply into problems of structural organization than is custom- 

 ary in introductory texts. This makes their book particularly 

 interesting for non-botanists, because it is in this area that 

 the most striking parallels between plant and animal development 

 are found. 



The authors use the organismal approach throughout, with em- 

 phasis on experimental morphology rather than physiology or bio- 

 chemistry. Their style is lucid and captivating, and they use 

 considerable common sense in pointing out the dangers of over- 

 simplification and theorizing. Numerous areas where more know- 

 ledge is urgently needed are indicated. The treatment is restrict' 

 ed to the vascular plants, but within this group many different 

 types of organization are considered. 



All chapters are concluded by a thoughtful comment and a se- 

 lective reference list through which the student is brought in- 

 to contact with the germinal literature, both older and recent. 



The book is very well produced and profusely illustrated with 

 good line drawings and photographs provided with explanatory 

 captions. The price is very reasonable. 



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