lar system (chs.2-8), rather than proceeding from early to late events in all 

 systems. Each user must decide for himself whether he likes this idea. Chap- 

 ters 1 (43 pp.) and 9 (12 pp.) serve to integrate the book by concentrating 

 on aspects and theories common to all systems. These chapters on the whole 

 fulfil their role admirably and provide real insight. 



Ch.l deals briefly with the principles of cellular and molecular biology, 

 asexual reproduction and growth, sexual reproduction, and embryonic develop- 

 ment in animals and plants. Each of the chapters 2-5 deals sequentially with 

 normal development (from gametogenesis to adult) , classical and modern ex- 

 perimental approaches, and gene activity at the molecular level. Noteworthy 

 features are sections on specification of synapses in ch.4, and on terato- 

 genesis, the development of immunity, and the development of behaviour in 

 ch.5. Chapters 4 and 5 have appendices to help in understanding developmental 

 anatomy in the laboratory. In the chapters 2-8 comparisons between systems 

 are made wherever appropriate. 



The book is on the whole very readable but in places somewhat cryptic or 

 perhaps too difficult and condensed for beginning students. There are occa- 

 sional inaccuracies, sometimes apparently due to unfamiliarity with the re- 

 cent literature. This reviewer rather missed a discussion of lens regenera- 

 tion in urodeles, a paradigm of cell transformation. He also found the defi- 

 nition of "field" unsatisfactory and that of "morphogenesis" rather inade- 

 quate; no proper definition of "positional information" is given. 



All chapters have adequate reading lists, but since author names are hard- 

 ly ever mentioned in the text it must sometimes be difficult for the student 

 to know what to select. The book is very well illustrated with line drawings 

 and a wealth of photographic material, much of it specially prepared for the 

 book. The explanatory captions are extensive but a few are less than adequate 

 (fig. 5. 29 refers to amphibian limb regeneration, not to the mammalian limb 

 bud!) 



3. 



P.GRANT. 1978. BIOLOGY OF DEVELOPING SYSTEMS 



Holt, Rinehart & Winston, New York, etc. XVI, 720 pp., 457 figs., 26 tabs., 



combined subject and taxonomic index. £ 8.7 5 



Contents: ch.l. Developmental systems; Part I DEVELOPMENTAL INFORMATION, 

 ch. 2. Organization of developmental information in cells, ch. 3, Retrieval 

 and exchange of developmental information; Part II. GROWTH, ch.4. Growth 

 of single cells, ch.5. Cell division: multiplicative growth, ch.6. Organ- 

 ismic growth; Part III. MORPHOGENESIS, ch. 7. Macromolecular assembly: the 

 ontogeny of cell organelles, ch.8. Morphogenesis in single cells, ch.9. 

 Acquisition of multicellularity , ch.lO. Cell surface in morphogenesis, 

 ch.ll. The egg as a developmental system, ch.l2. Organogenesis: behavior 

 of cell sheets, ch.l3. Information flow in early embryonic development, 

 ch.l4. Asexual buds, ch.l5. Regeneration: a developmental reprise, ch.l6. 

 Morphogenesis of patterns; Part IV. DIFFERENTIATION, ch.l7. Totipotency, 

 determination, and differentiation, ch.l8. The immune system: a model of 

 differentiation, ch.l9. The larva and metamorphosis; Part V. DEVELOPMENTAL 

 DEFECTS, ch.20. Congenital abnormalities, ch.21. Neoplasia: an abnormal 

 cell phenotype, ch.22. Aging: a decline in growth potential? 



This is one of the best developmental biology texts to have appeared in 

 recent years. It was designed for older undergraduates and beginning gradu- 

 ates and the scope and coverage are astounding. Any student who has digested 

 it will have a firm grasp of the entire field. It was an excellent idea to 

 start the book with the principles of cell biology with particular refer- 

 ence to the flow of information in the cell. Another noteworthy feature is 

 the emphasis throughout on the hierarchial nature of biological organisation. 



189 



