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Going with the flow
BOOK REVIEWS
Scientists: surf bored? The Internet for Scientists by Kevin O’Donnell and Larry Winger, Harwood Academic Publishers, 1997. £14.50/$20.00 (300 pages) ISBN 90 5702 221 4
According to the two scientist authors, this book is written as a ‘manual and review handbook for accessing and using the resources of the Internet in the day to day labours of the working scientist.’ They also recommend that the reader buy this book for colleagues ‘who have not yet seen the light’. Have they succeeded in their aims? Maybe – there is some useful reference material in the book, it is not too expensive and some novice Internet users might find it useful. Could they have done better? I think so, and I am not convinced that it will entice the ‘resistant Internet user’ to try to get involved or upgrade their surfing skills. With the publication of masses of high-quality information from very reputable sources, it is becoming easy to evangelize about the real benefits of the Internet to science, education and research. Probably the best way is to show a few examples tailored to
Going with the flow Flow Cytometry Protocols edited by M. J. Jaroszeski and R. Heller, Humana Press, 1998. $64.50 (288 pages) ISBN 0 89603 353 6
Flow Cytometry Protocols is part of the successful Humana Press Methods in Molecular Biology series, providing cutting edge methods and detailed
420
the audience’s needs – for example, via HyperText links from a Web page. This is difficult using a book format, especially one written for such a broad audience, which seems to range from school science education to astrophysics and virology (cell biology is only in the index under ‘newsgroups’). Much of the book is made up of huge lists of mailing lists, newsgroups and Websites, all catalogued under subject type. The 40-plus pages of mailing lists include one on ‘Psychologists practicing (sic) in California’ and one on ‘Tree seeds’; might it have been enough to quote two or three as examples of the variety and detail? The 150-plus pages of newsgroups are reviewed mainly for volume and also for typical content; but surely the whole point of such discussion fora is that they change from week to week? This approach might reinforce the view that ‘there is a lot out there that is of no interest to me’. Websites on the World Wide Web (WWW) are (thankfully) reviewed in fewer pages; but, with so many to chose from, it might have been better to discuss the type of Websites that are available and just give some examples of best practice and predict what might develop in the future? I also think that they missed an opportunity in the ‘Creating your own Website section’; as a (largely self-taught) electronic editor/publisher, this section should have been the most interesting one for me. I found it to be very opinionated, heavily Mac biased and dated in some places (a problem with the book for-
mat). Many of the sections, including this one, are written in a very ‘informal style’, full of asides and jokes, which some readers might like but others will find irritating. Overall, the scope of the book falls in an uncomfortable position between providing general information on how to use the Internet and reviewing (how to access) science resources on the Internet. The problem with attempting either is that the tricks to getting the most out of the Internet are changing almost daily (with new browser software and innovations in search engines, etc.), and the resources themselves are proliferating and mutating at a remarkable rate. The authors do acknowledge this and refer the reader to on-line lists of lists. I suspect that, if a reader has access to the Web, they will stop using the book and will start using the Internet to find the best resources. My advice to the Internet-novice is to find a copy of the Trends Guide to the Internet (about the right length to get you started, without sending you to sleep http://www.elsevier.nl/ locate/trendsguide), find a friendly librarian (many of them run courses on using the Internet effectively) or a PhD student to show you how to use the Internet locally and read a few magazines (they also have good shareware on their attached CD–ROMs). To find specific resources on the Net, ask the PhD student or use one or more search engines/catalogues of sites; to find the best resources for your subject area, find a good society or journal site.
protocols. The first thing one notices on picking up books of this series is the thin cardboard cover and the wire-bound spine. These books are very clearly intended to be found in the laboratory as an up-to-date working reference manual rather than a text for the home or library shelf. As such, the editors, Mark Jaroszeski and Richard Heller, have directed Flow Cytometry Protocols to advanced users as well as to investigators who are new to this fast-moving area. The book is organized into 22 chapters. The elementary concepts of flow cytometry are typified in the opening chapter, which also contains a useful section with World Wide Web (WWW) addresses for flow cytometry
information resources and related WWW homepages. Each chapter in the book is prefaced by a short introduction together with some background information or theory on the methodology that follows. As in all other volumes of that series, full details are then given on all equipment and reagents that will be needed. The amount of experimental detail is, in most cases, sufficient and the methodology itself is presented clearly as a series of steps that could easily be followed by the most junior laboratory personnel. An exception to this rule is Chapter 21, describing chromosome sorting and analysis, which is, in principle, nice but is clearly oriented to the expert; for a
Copyright © 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. 0962-8924/98/$19.00
trends in CELL BIOLOGY (Vol. 8) October 1998
book reviews normal user, it will not be possible to follow the methodology without the help of an experienced investigator. An important feature for any laboratory methods text is that protocols have to be free of typographical errors. This text has been carefully proofed by the editors and is relatively free of such errors; however, a representative example of such rare errors: in Chapter 3 (cytokine production detection) the step-by-step labelling procedure for detection of intracellular cytokines refers the reader at step 6 of the protocol to proceed with step 13 if internal cytokines are not to be stained. This was confusing since the protocol includes only 12 steps in total. It is quite an ambitious undertaking to cover such a diversified field, and inevitably the selection of topics discussed in this book is certainly arbitrary and subjective. In this respect, the most prominent omissions are chapters devoted to measurement of Ca21 flux, organelle analysis, detection of b-Gal and a chapter dealing with green fluorescent protein (GFP) of the jellyfish Aequorea victoria. On the other hand, rather exotic techniques are dealt with in the greatest
Branching out in tumour therapy Tumor Angiogenesis edited by R. Bicknell, C. E. Lewis and N. Ferrara, Oxford University Press, 1997. £85.00 (381 pages) ISBN 0 19 854937 7
Tumor Angiogenesis is a timely book about an area that is rapidly gaining in popularity. This book covers many aspects of tumour angiogenesis as well as related areas, including tumour therapy by vascular targeting, and angiogenesis during development. The contribution by experts in the various areas described in the book warrants correct and up-to-date information. Because of the rapid expansion of the field of angiogenesis, it is now almost impossible
detail, which might be of interest for specialized clinicians but not for molecular or cellular biologists; these include uptake of titanium oxide by lung cells, DNA-ploidy analysis of tumour cells, and three chapters describing electro-fusion, electro-permeabilization and electro-insertion. Nonetheless, there are some excellent sections, such as Chapter 6 (‘Detection of cyclins’), Chapter 7 (‘Cell viability’), Chapter 20 (‘Analysis of apoptosis’) and Chapter 22 (‘Simultaneous five–six colour multiparameter analysis’), all being more focused and comprehensive than others found in this book. It is, however, improbable that even the most experienced cell biologist would be able to reproduce the solid tumour DNA-ploidy analysis, described in Chapter 18. The determination of ploidy without proper calibration of the samples, using standards such as chick erythrocyte nuclei or calibration beads, is not state of the art, and this type of flow cytometry seems neither appropriate for clinicians nor for cell biologists. Another shortcoming of the book is the low quality of figures, both in layout and reproduction.
These days, when libraries and laboratories are struggling with cuts in budget, laboratory guides and protocol collections have to be chosen carefully. While some of the chapters in this book are clearly essential, the daily developments in molecular cell biology and immunology make most of the chapters second-round texts in providing a meaningful reference book, for both clinical and experimental investigators. The major competitor of Flow Cytometry Protocols is its counterpart published in the Current Protocol series (John Wiley & Sons), now also on CD–ROM. The technical protocols in the Current Protocol series cover many more important applications, are more focused, frequently updated and also contain troubleshooting sections. Owing to the rapid pace of development of flow cytometry, it is important for such a protocol collection to deliver regular updates that keep the users up to date on recent developments and latest techniques. Keeping all this in mind and from the point of view of general interest to cell biologists, I cannot give a definitive thumbs up for Flow Cytometry Protocols.
for each scientist in this field to be familiar with recent developments in all sub-areas. Therefore, this contribution will be most useful for the researchers in the field, in particular for scientists new to angiogenesis who will benefit from this extensive and thorough introduction. The book will also function well as a dictionary for people working in related areas. However, for teaching purposes, the lack of a general integrated overview with useful illustrations of the angiogenic mechanisms is limiting. In almost any education, the entire area of angiogenesis will at the most be given a few scheduled hours. The high specialization and depth of the chapters therefore makes it less suitable for students or teachers, who will find a more comprehensive coverage, including useful figures for teaching, in various review articles. Most attention is given to various factors secreted by tumour cells that affect angiogenesis in one way or another, whereas the vasculature itself and the mechanisms within the vascular cells during angiogenesis are covered less well. For example, the
growth factors VEGF, bFGF, TGF-b and TNF-a, as well as pleiotrophin, prostanoids and extracellular matrix components, are given one or two chapters each. By contrast, the role of the vascular cell surface and adhesion molecules as well as various intracellular mechanisms are more scattered. This is probably a reflection of the aspects of tumour angiogenesis upon which most studies have focused, even if the interest in the vascular cell mechanisms is gaining popularity and many of the new discoveries in the field relate directly to vascular cell function. Various in vivo models are also well described in the book. For example, Fan and Polverini present an extensive guide to the critical choice of angiogenesis model systems in vivo, and Pepper and others present their interesting model of polyoma virus middle T oncogene as a model for haemangiomas. In addition, the chapters on vascular targeting, either directly to block angiogenesis or for distribution of gene therapy products, are very intriguing as they have great potential in the improvement of present cancer therapy.
trends in CELL BIOLOGY (Vol. 8) October 1998
Copyright © 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. 0962-8924/98/$19.00
Lukas A. Huber Research Institute of Molecular Pathology, Dr. Bohrgasse 7, A-1030 Wien, Austria.
421
Scientists: surf bored? The Internet for Scientists by Kevin O’Donnell and Larry Winger, Harwood Academic Publishers, 1997. £14.50/$20.00 (300 pages) ISBN 90 5702 221 4
According to the two scientist authors, this book is written as a ‘manual and review handbook for accessing and using the resources of the Internet in the day to day labours of the working scientist.’ They also recommend that the reader buy this book for colleagues ‘who have not yet seen the light’. Have they succeeded in their aims? Maybe – there is some useful reference material in the book, it is not too expensive and some novice Internet users might find it useful. Could they have done better? I think so, and I am not convinced that it will entice the ‘resistant Internet user’ to try to get involved or upgrade their surfing skills. With the publication of masses of high-quality information from very reputable sources, it is becoming easy to evangelize about the real benefits of the Internet to science, education and research. Probably the best way is to show a few examples tailored to
Going with the flow Flow Cytometry Protocols edited by M. J. Jaroszeski and R. Heller, Humana Press, 1998. $64.50 (288 pages) ISBN 0 89603 353 6
Flow Cytometry Protocols is part of the successful Humana Press Methods in Molecular Biology series, providing cutting edge methods and detailed
420
the audience’s needs – for example, via HyperText links from a Web page. This is difficult using a book format, especially one written for such a broad audience, which seems to range from school science education to astrophysics and virology (cell biology is only in the index under ‘newsgroups’). Much of the book is made up of huge lists of mailing lists, newsgroups and Websites, all catalogued under subject type. The 40-plus pages of mailing lists include one on ‘Psychologists practicing (sic) in California’ and one on ‘Tree seeds’; might it have been enough to quote two or three as examples of the variety and detail? The 150-plus pages of newsgroups are reviewed mainly for volume and also for typical content; but surely the whole point of such discussion fora is that they change from week to week? This approach might reinforce the view that ‘there is a lot out there that is of no interest to me’. Websites on the World Wide Web (WWW) are (thankfully) reviewed in fewer pages; but, with so many to chose from, it might have been better to discuss the type of Websites that are available and just give some examples of best practice and predict what might develop in the future? I also think that they missed an opportunity in the ‘Creating your own Website section’; as a (largely self-taught) electronic editor/publisher, this section should have been the most interesting one for me. I found it to be very opinionated, heavily Mac biased and dated in some places (a problem with the book for-
mat). Many of the sections, including this one, are written in a very ‘informal style’, full of asides and jokes, which some readers might like but others will find irritating. Overall, the scope of the book falls in an uncomfortable position between providing general information on how to use the Internet and reviewing (how to access) science resources on the Internet. The problem with attempting either is that the tricks to getting the most out of the Internet are changing almost daily (with new browser software and innovations in search engines, etc.), and the resources themselves are proliferating and mutating at a remarkable rate. The authors do acknowledge this and refer the reader to on-line lists of lists. I suspect that, if a reader has access to the Web, they will stop using the book and will start using the Internet to find the best resources. My advice to the Internet-novice is to find a copy of the Trends Guide to the Internet (about the right length to get you started, without sending you to sleep http://www.elsevier.nl/ locate/trendsguide), find a friendly librarian (many of them run courses on using the Internet effectively) or a PhD student to show you how to use the Internet locally and read a few magazines (they also have good shareware on their attached CD–ROMs). To find specific resources on the Net, ask the PhD student or use one or more search engines/catalogues of sites; to find the best resources for your subject area, find a good society or journal site.
protocols. The first thing one notices on picking up books of this series is the thin cardboard cover and the wire-bound spine. These books are very clearly intended to be found in the laboratory as an up-to-date working reference manual rather than a text for the home or library shelf. As such, the editors, Mark Jaroszeski and Richard Heller, have directed Flow Cytometry Protocols to advanced users as well as to investigators who are new to this fast-moving area. The book is organized into 22 chapters. The elementary concepts of flow cytometry are typified in the opening chapter, which also contains a useful section with World Wide Web (WWW) addresses for flow cytometry
information resources and related WWW homepages. Each chapter in the book is prefaced by a short introduction together with some background information or theory on the methodology that follows. As in all other volumes of that series, full details are then given on all equipment and reagents that will be needed. The amount of experimental detail is, in most cases, sufficient and the methodology itself is presented clearly as a series of steps that could easily be followed by the most junior laboratory personnel. An exception to this rule is Chapter 21, describing chromosome sorting and analysis, which is, in principle, nice but is clearly oriented to the expert; for a
Copyright © 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. 0962-8924/98/$19.00
trends in CELL BIOLOGY (Vol. 8) October 1998
book reviews normal user, it will not be possible to follow the methodology without the help of an experienced investigator. An important feature for any laboratory methods text is that protocols have to be free of typographical errors. This text has been carefully proofed by the editors and is relatively free of such errors; however, a representative example of such rare errors: in Chapter 3 (cytokine production detection) the step-by-step labelling procedure for detection of intracellular cytokines refers the reader at step 6 of the protocol to proceed with step 13 if internal cytokines are not to be stained. This was confusing since the protocol includes only 12 steps in total. It is quite an ambitious undertaking to cover such a diversified field, and inevitably the selection of topics discussed in this book is certainly arbitrary and subjective. In this respect, the most prominent omissions are chapters devoted to measurement of Ca21 flux, organelle analysis, detection of b-Gal and a chapter dealing with green fluorescent protein (GFP) of the jellyfish Aequorea victoria. On the other hand, rather exotic techniques are dealt with in the greatest
Branching out in tumour therapy Tumor Angiogenesis edited by R. Bicknell, C. E. Lewis and N. Ferrara, Oxford University Press, 1997. £85.00 (381 pages) ISBN 0 19 854937 7
Tumor Angiogenesis is a timely book about an area that is rapidly gaining in popularity. This book covers many aspects of tumour angiogenesis as well as related areas, including tumour therapy by vascular targeting, and angiogenesis during development. The contribution by experts in the various areas described in the book warrants correct and up-to-date information. Because of the rapid expansion of the field of angiogenesis, it is now almost impossible
detail, which might be of interest for specialized clinicians but not for molecular or cellular biologists; these include uptake of titanium oxide by lung cells, DNA-ploidy analysis of tumour cells, and three chapters describing electro-fusion, electro-permeabilization and electro-insertion. Nonetheless, there are some excellent sections, such as Chapter 6 (‘Detection of cyclins’), Chapter 7 (‘Cell viability’), Chapter 20 (‘Analysis of apoptosis’) and Chapter 22 (‘Simultaneous five–six colour multiparameter analysis’), all being more focused and comprehensive than others found in this book. It is, however, improbable that even the most experienced cell biologist would be able to reproduce the solid tumour DNA-ploidy analysis, described in Chapter 18. The determination of ploidy without proper calibration of the samples, using standards such as chick erythrocyte nuclei or calibration beads, is not state of the art, and this type of flow cytometry seems neither appropriate for clinicians nor for cell biologists. Another shortcoming of the book is the low quality of figures, both in layout and reproduction.
These days, when libraries and laboratories are struggling with cuts in budget, laboratory guides and protocol collections have to be chosen carefully. While some of the chapters in this book are clearly essential, the daily developments in molecular cell biology and immunology make most of the chapters second-round texts in providing a meaningful reference book, for both clinical and experimental investigators. The major competitor of Flow Cytometry Protocols is its counterpart published in the Current Protocol series (John Wiley & Sons), now also on CD–ROM. The technical protocols in the Current Protocol series cover many more important applications, are more focused, frequently updated and also contain troubleshooting sections. Owing to the rapid pace of development of flow cytometry, it is important for such a protocol collection to deliver regular updates that keep the users up to date on recent developments and latest techniques. Keeping all this in mind and from the point of view of general interest to cell biologists, I cannot give a definitive thumbs up for Flow Cytometry Protocols.
for each scientist in this field to be familiar with recent developments in all sub-areas. Therefore, this contribution will be most useful for the researchers in the field, in particular for scientists new to angiogenesis who will benefit from this extensive and thorough introduction. The book will also function well as a dictionary for people working in related areas. However, for teaching purposes, the lack of a general integrated overview with useful illustrations of the angiogenic mechanisms is limiting. In almost any education, the entire area of angiogenesis will at the most be given a few scheduled hours. The high specialization and depth of the chapters therefore makes it less suitable for students or teachers, who will find a more comprehensive coverage, including useful figures for teaching, in various review articles. Most attention is given to various factors secreted by tumour cells that affect angiogenesis in one way or another, whereas the vasculature itself and the mechanisms within the vascular cells during angiogenesis are covered less well. For example, the
growth factors VEGF, bFGF, TGF-b and TNF-a, as well as pleiotrophin, prostanoids and extracellular matrix components, are given one or two chapters each. By contrast, the role of the vascular cell surface and adhesion molecules as well as various intracellular mechanisms are more scattered. This is probably a reflection of the aspects of tumour angiogenesis upon which most studies have focused, even if the interest in the vascular cell mechanisms is gaining popularity and many of the new discoveries in the field relate directly to vascular cell function. Various in vivo models are also well described in the book. For example, Fan and Polverini present an extensive guide to the critical choice of angiogenesis model systems in vivo, and Pepper and others present their interesting model of polyoma virus middle T oncogene as a model for haemangiomas. In addition, the chapters on vascular targeting, either directly to block angiogenesis or for distribution of gene therapy products, are very intriguing as they have great potential in the improvement of present cancer therapy.
trends in CELL BIOLOGY (Vol. 8) October 1998
Copyright © 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. 0962-8924/98/$19.00
Lukas A. Huber Research Institute of Molecular Pathology, Dr. Bohrgasse 7, A-1030 Wien, Austria.
421