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A mixed bag
BOOK
REVIEWS
A mixed bag The Evolutionary Biology of the Viruses edited by Stephen S. Morse Raven Press, 1994. S87.00 hbk (xi + 353 pages) ISH~O77Xl70l198 ‘[‘his book is a collection of 15 papers that were prcscntcd at a confcrcncc organized by the Editor. ‘[‘his is a mixed bag. I read this book avidly bccausc, while I think I have some cxpcrtisc in the field of influcnza, I really wanted to widen my virological horizons. This book succccdcd in doing this for me, but onlv in a hit-and-miss fashion. Articles that struck me as very informative, authoritative an d easy to assimilate include those on retroelcmcnts (Eickbush), RNA viruses (Domingo and Holland), sex in KNA viruses (Chao) and mosquito-borne viruses (Scott, Wcavcr and Mallampalli). There arc several excellent features. Stephen &Morse clearly wishes to get the field to adopt an evolutionary perspective, and one can only wish him well, as such a
Mushrooming textbooks The Fungi by M.J. Carlilc and S.C. Watkinson Acadenlic Press, 1994. L24.9.5pbk (xiii + 482 pages) ISBK 0 12 IS9960 4 LMycological textbooks are apparently like city buses - you wait for ages for one to appear, then scvcral come along all at once! For many years I, and many other mycologists no doubt, had difficulty in finding a suitable up-to-date mycological text and had to resort to recommending some excellent, but increasingly dated, texts published in the 1970s. The past 12 months have brought a flood of books of various types on fungal physiology, reproduction and growth of a more or less specialized nature, and at a
I believe, can only perspective, greatly further our understanding of viruses. The book has a very helpful appendix that gives books and journals where general information on the subject can hc found by the novice, n listing of sources for computer programs to perform the tasks of making trees and tabulating other useful data, and a list of databases of both protein and nucleic acid scqucnces. Many of the chapters have extensive useful lists of viruses, together with information on their geographical distribution, the hosts that the) infect and the diseases that they cause. Some chapters also include the dates and places of the isolation of the virus, another important ingredient to the evolutionary analysis of viral sequences. IMorse should have used a hcavicr editorial hand. In a series of papers about evolution, a large fraction of the papers should not misuse a fundamental term in evolutionary studies. Ever since the early 18OOs, similarity in biology has had two cxplnnations. One is homology, meaning that the similarity arose from common anccstry, and the second is analogy,
meaning that the similarity arose by convcrgcncc. Both phenomena occur in nature, although molecular convcrgcnce is rare. The use of ‘homology’ to mean ‘similarity’ is not excusable any more, but IS rampant in these pages. It would also have hclpcd if a glossary had been provided by asking the authors to define any terms they thought might be useful for the novice reader for whom this book is intcndcd. For example, what is the diffcrcncc between infcctiousncss and transmissivity, or among virulcncc, pathogenicity and cytotoxicity? 1 could list a series of problems, such as figures without legends and cvcn without labelled axes on graphs, poor grammar, flatly contradicting statements on the same page. However, it seems better to suggest simply that this book falls somewhat short of its objcctivcs.
wide range of prices. Of these, The Fungi is one of the most traditional in format and coverage, but with a contemporary perspective. The text is beautifully written and an understanding and enthusiasm for this important group of organisms comes through on every page. It has an cxtrcmcly broad coverage, from the classification and biodiversity of fungi through to their physiology, growth and rcproduction. The ecological roles of fungi as parasites, saprophytes and symbionts as well as their use in biotechnology are also discussed. As a paperback, the book is very modestly priced and is therefore one that can be legitimately cons&red for recommendation as an introductory undcrgraduatc text to replace the aforcmcntioncd older works. ‘I’he fungi are the second largest group of organisms on the Earth
after the insects but, unlike in cntomology, the biodiversity of fungi has often been as much of a bindrancc as an asset to their poputarization. ‘I‘his book is excellent in showing the importance of fungi in natural ecosystems as well as in fundamental and applied science. It is therefore likely to be attractive to undergraduates (who wilt generally choke on anything tasting of systcmatics) because the vastness of the group is revealed subtly only in the context of the many important activities and properties of the organisms. ‘I‘he photographic illustrations arc gcncrally cxccllcnt, although I thought some of the line diagrams naive. The major strengths of the book are in the descriptions of fungat lifestyles and the clear explanations of their roles in the environment. It is much less detailed in considcration of the cell biology and
Walter M. Fitch Dcpt of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, 1Jnivcrsity of California, Irvine, CA 927 17, USA
REVIEWS
A mixed bag The Evolutionary Biology of the Viruses edited by Stephen S. Morse Raven Press, 1994. S87.00 hbk (xi + 353 pages) ISH~O77Xl70l198 ‘[‘his book is a collection of 15 papers that were prcscntcd at a confcrcncc organized by the Editor. ‘[‘his is a mixed bag. I read this book avidly bccausc, while I think I have some cxpcrtisc in the field of influcnza, I really wanted to widen my virological horizons. This book succccdcd in doing this for me, but onlv in a hit-and-miss fashion. Articles that struck me as very informative, authoritative an d easy to assimilate include those on retroelcmcnts (Eickbush), RNA viruses (Domingo and Holland), sex in KNA viruses (Chao) and mosquito-borne viruses (Scott, Wcavcr and Mallampalli). There arc several excellent features. Stephen &Morse clearly wishes to get the field to adopt an evolutionary perspective, and one can only wish him well, as such a
Mushrooming textbooks The Fungi by M.J. Carlilc and S.C. Watkinson Acadenlic Press, 1994. L24.9.5pbk (xiii + 482 pages) ISBK 0 12 IS9960 4 LMycological textbooks are apparently like city buses - you wait for ages for one to appear, then scvcral come along all at once! For many years I, and many other mycologists no doubt, had difficulty in finding a suitable up-to-date mycological text and had to resort to recommending some excellent, but increasingly dated, texts published in the 1970s. The past 12 months have brought a flood of books of various types on fungal physiology, reproduction and growth of a more or less specialized nature, and at a
I believe, can only perspective, greatly further our understanding of viruses. The book has a very helpful appendix that gives books and journals where general information on the subject can hc found by the novice, n listing of sources for computer programs to perform the tasks of making trees and tabulating other useful data, and a list of databases of both protein and nucleic acid scqucnces. Many of the chapters have extensive useful lists of viruses, together with information on their geographical distribution, the hosts that the) infect and the diseases that they cause. Some chapters also include the dates and places of the isolation of the virus, another important ingredient to the evolutionary analysis of viral sequences. IMorse should have used a hcavicr editorial hand. In a series of papers about evolution, a large fraction of the papers should not misuse a fundamental term in evolutionary studies. Ever since the early 18OOs, similarity in biology has had two cxplnnations. One is homology, meaning that the similarity arose from common anccstry, and the second is analogy,
meaning that the similarity arose by convcrgcncc. Both phenomena occur in nature, although molecular convcrgcnce is rare. The use of ‘homology’ to mean ‘similarity’ is not excusable any more, but IS rampant in these pages. It would also have hclpcd if a glossary had been provided by asking the authors to define any terms they thought might be useful for the novice reader for whom this book is intcndcd. For example, what is the diffcrcncc between infcctiousncss and transmissivity, or among virulcncc, pathogenicity and cytotoxicity? 1 could list a series of problems, such as figures without legends and cvcn without labelled axes on graphs, poor grammar, flatly contradicting statements on the same page. However, it seems better to suggest simply that this book falls somewhat short of its objcctivcs.
wide range of prices. Of these, The Fungi is one of the most traditional in format and coverage, but with a contemporary perspective. The text is beautifully written and an understanding and enthusiasm for this important group of organisms comes through on every page. It has an cxtrcmcly broad coverage, from the classification and biodiversity of fungi through to their physiology, growth and rcproduction. The ecological roles of fungi as parasites, saprophytes and symbionts as well as their use in biotechnology are also discussed. As a paperback, the book is very modestly priced and is therefore one that can be legitimately cons&red for recommendation as an introductory undcrgraduatc text to replace the aforcmcntioncd older works. ‘I’he fungi are the second largest group of organisms on the Earth
after the insects but, unlike in cntomology, the biodiversity of fungi has often been as much of a bindrancc as an asset to their poputarization. ‘I‘his book is excellent in showing the importance of fungi in natural ecosystems as well as in fundamental and applied science. It is therefore likely to be attractive to undergraduates (who wilt generally choke on anything tasting of systcmatics) because the vastness of the group is revealed subtly only in the context of the many important activities and properties of the organisms. ‘I‘he photographic illustrations arc gcncrally cxccllcnt, although I thought some of the line diagrams naive. The major strengths of the book are in the descriptions of fungat lifestyles and the clear explanations of their roles in the environment. It is much less detailed in considcration of the cell biology and
Walter M. Fitch Dcpt of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, 1Jnivcrsity of California, Irvine, CA 927 17, USA