Each chapter is concluded by a brief selection of references. The book is 

 illustrated with numerous good drawings, diagrams, and photographs. It is 

 concluded by a combined author and subject index, 



9 MOLECULAR BIOLOGY OF THE GENE 



1965 

 by J, D. Watson W. A. Benjamin Inc. 



Biology Teaching Monograph Series New York 



516 pp., 195 figs., 24 tbs. 

 (paper-bound) 



This book by the Nobel prize winner Watson is meant as an introductory 

 text for undergraduate biology students. The title does not completely cover 

 its contents, for in fact the book gives a survey of the fundamentals of the 

 whole area of molecular biology, including intermediary metabolism. 



The book is exceedingly well-written and lucidly illustrated, and reads more 

 like a story than a text-book. It would seem to be ideally suited also for those 

 older biologists who have had no specific training in this field, and whose 

 knowledge of it is only patchy. 



The book is opened by two historically oriented chapters which serve to 

 show the development of molecular genetics out of classical genetics and 

 classical biochemistry respectively. Chapter 3 deals with the biochemistry of 

 the bacterial cell, and is followed by three chapters discussing weak chemical 

 interactions, coupled reactions and group transfers, and template surfaces. The 

 next two chapters discuss the arrangement of genes on chromosomes, and 

 gene structure and function. Then follow three chapters discussing the rep- 

 lication and genetic organization of DNA, transcription (messenger RNA), 

 and translation (protein synthesis). After a chapter dealing with virus rep- 

 lication there follow two chapters discussing the genetic code and various 

 regulation mechanisms. The penultimate chapter briefly touches upon the 

 problem of cellular differentiation in higher organisms. Most of this chapter 

 is taken up by a discussion of antibody synthesis as a model of (induced) 

 differentiation. The last chapter is concerned with cancer (particularly as 

 induced by virus). All chapters are concluded by a concise summary. 



Each chapter has its own brief, annotated list of references. There are no 

 literature references in the text. The numerous illustrations are of the highest 

 quality. Most of them are schemes executed in admirably clear and uniform 

 style. The use of various shades of colour adds greatly to their value. The 

 lay-out of the book is excellent. It is concluded by a glossary and an alpha- 

 betical index. 



10 THE CELL PERIPHERY. METASTASIS, 

 AND OTHER CONTACT PHENOMENA 



1967 



by L. Weiss North Holland Publishing Co. 

 Series: Frontiers of Biology, Vol. 7 Amsterdam 



388 pp., 39 figs., 9 tbs. Price: $ 15.10 



The current interdisciplinary approach to the study of the cell periphery 

 and its contact reactions by biologists, pathologists and physicists creates com- 

 munication barriers. The aim of this monograph, written by a pathologist who 

 has been active in this field for years, is to overcome these barriers, and to 

 provide a guide to the vast interdisciplinary literature by means of a fairly 

 exhaustive bibliography. Since cell contact phenomena are increasingly stressed 

 in the analysis of developmental processes, the book will be important for 

 many developmental biologists. While basing himself on the experimental 

 evidence, much of which stems from his own work and that of his associates, 



274 



