The present volume comprises the contributions to an international round- 

 table conference on cytodifferentiation held in Valbella, Switzerland, in 

 September 1966. The discussions held at the conference are not recorded, but 

 it is implied in the editors' preface that the contributions received their definitive 

 form only after the conference, so that material from the discussions could be 

 incorporated into them. 



The 20 contributions are grouped into three "chapters" entitled respectively 

 "Primary embryonic induction and morphogenesis", "General views on cyto- 

 differentiation", and "Special organogenesis". The first chapter contains papers 

 by Toivonen, Tiedemann, Nieuwkoop, Monroy and Gross, Runnstrom, and 

 Weber. Equal attention is devoted to classical experimental work and the 

 modern biochemical approach. Chapter II consists of papers by Yamada, Hess, 

 Rutter et al., Burnett, and Koningsberger. Among the subjects discussed are: 

 the activation of the genetic code, the role of immunological processes, regulatory 

 mechanisms at various levels, and the role of gradients in cytodifferentiation 

 and polarity. The last chapter is subdivided into sections on the nervous system 

 (Spector, Wechsler, and Levi-Montalcini), cartilage (Strudel, Zilliken, and 

 Marzullo and Lash), and the erythropoietic system (Bessis, Goldwasser, and 

 Scherrer). The approach in this group is again both morphological and 

 biochemical. 



The large amount of original experimental work reported in the various 

 contributions was carried out on a variety of animal species ranging from 

 Hydra to mammals. 



Each contribution has its own bibliography. The book is very well illustrated; 

 the numerous photomicrographs and electronmicrographs are beautifully re- 

 produced on glossy paper (fig. 7 of Weber's paper is inverted). The book is 

 concluded by a subject index. 



38 MAJOR PROBLEMS IN DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY 



1966 

 Editor: M. Locke Academic Press 



25th Symposium of the Society New York - London 



for Developmental Biology 

 420 pp., 104 figs., 16 tbs. 



Contents: The growth and development of developmental biology (Jane M. Oppenheimer) ; 

 The keys to change: factors regulating differentiation (J. D. Ebert and M. E. Kaighn); 

 Dynamics of determination (E. Hadom); Fields and gradients (C. H. Waddington); Morpho- 

 genetic cell movements (J. P. Trinkaus); The formation of patterns in development (H. Ur- 

 sprung); Protein structure in relation to cell dynamics and differentiation (D. E. Koshland, Jr. 

 and M. E. Kirtley); Intercellular regulation in plants (A. Lang): Cell death in morphogenesis 

 (J. W. Saunders, Jr. and J. F. Fallon); Fact and theory about the cell surface in carcinogenesis 

 (H. Rubin); Starting points for research in the ontogeny of behavior (M. Jacobson) 



In the flood of Symposium reports which is brought on us year by year, 

 there occasionally occurs one that is both outstanding in quality and broad 

 in scope. The present volume is a case in point. In order to lend a festive 

 note to the occasion of the 25th Developmental Biology Symposium (formerly 

 called the Growth Symposia), the executive committee of the Society for 

 Developmental Biology (U.S.A.) brought together in June 1966 (in Haverford, 

 Pa.), a truly representative group of lecturers on the current status of some 

 major problems in developmental and cellular biology (12 from the U.S.A., 

 one from England, and one from Switzerland). 



A glance at the table of contents above will immediately bring out both the 

 competence of the contributors for their task, and the good balance struck 

 among the various problems selected for treatment. All contributions are highly 

 authoritative; they pay full attention to conceptual backgrounds and are written 

 in a way which points up new approaches for further analysis. 



290 



