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The physiology of flowering plants. Their growth and development. 3rd Ed
The Physiology of Flowering Plants. Their Growth and Development. 3rd Ed. By H. E. Street and Helgi tjpik. Pp. 279. Edward Arnold, London. 1984. Paperback f8.95.
tion Mechanisms remains a commercially viable proposition, which means that libraries can still afford to purchase it!
The authors in their original concept of the book, and Dr Gpik in the preparation of this third edition, have endeavoured to ‘ . give an account of the physiology of flowering plants from the viewpoint of the whole plant, with particular emphasis on the processes of growth and development.’ They have succeeded admirably in producing an excellent introductory textbook. The twelve chapters are entitled Germination, Energy Flow and Carbon Turnover, Water Relations, Mineral Nutrition, Transport of Metabolites, Resistance to Stress, Growth, Progress and Pattern, Cell Growth and Growth Differentiation, Movements, Vegetative Development, and Reproductive Development. The text is concise and unambiguous, and is made interesting for the reader by. the inclusion of discussions of opposing hypotheses. In these discussions are presented caveats on theinterpretation of data supporting or refuting hypotheses, and these are of high didactic value. Discussions of cellular biochemistry and physiology are included where necessary in discussions of whole-plant response: these inclusions are sufficient to complement and never detract by being unduly esoteric. Modern techniques are discussed, such as gas liquid chromatography, mass spectrometry, high performance liquid chromatography and radioimmunoassay for the identification of plant hormones as well as the classical bioassay techniques. My sole suggestion for improvement of this introductory text would be the inclusion of an appendix listing Latin and common name equivalents of the plants mentioned.
Bio-Inorganic Chemistry. By Robert W. Hay. Pp. 210. Ellis Hot-wood, Chichester. 7984. Cloth f20.00, Paperback f9.50.
M. J. Koriol
Organic Reaction Mechanisms, 1992. Edited by A. C. Knipe and W. E. Watts. Pp. 360. Wiley, Chichester. 1984. f72.50.
The eighteenth volume of this series covers research on organic reaction mechanisms for the period December 1981 to November 1982. The coverage is comprehensive within carefully-defined limits (topics which are thoroughly reviewed elsewhere, e.g. photochemistry, are excluded), and discussion of each paper is therefore often very brief. Critical and evaluation comment is therefore almost entirely .absent, so that the overall effect is that of an annotated bibliography. Nevertheless, it is remarkable how clear an impression one gains of the state of knowledge and level of activity within a particular topic. In general this clear impression appears to be an accurate one too, judging from areas familiar to the reviewer. This series of volumes provides an excellent means of literature retrieval in an area where Chemical Abstracts is often of limited usefulness. Let us hope that Organic Reac-
R. W. Alder
currently being studied. Are scientists in developmental neurobiology asking the right questions? But such an appraisal may be beyond the scope of the book. G. Vrbova
This is an introductory text and as such I liked it, although it approaches the subject in a manner different from the one I would have chosen. The author is concerned to lead the chemist into the biological importance of inorganic elements. His stress is then on the properties of inorganic complex ions in relation to the character of the known complexes which are found in biological systems. This shows in the chapter headings which divide the topic into General Background, Physical Methods, Group IA and IIA, Non Redox Enzymes, Oxygen Transport, Haem and Copper Proteins, Nitrogen Fixation, Metal Ion Transport, and Medical Applications. Each chapter is well written and illustrated by many examples, although I was disappointed by the dates of many of the references: an undergraduate likes to feel that he is up-to-date. The problem with the approach is that the ‘purposeful’ integration of the cellular activities is lost. Energy capture is dominated by metals and so is signalling. It is difficult to present this integration but I suggest that a chapter before medicine should be included in the next edition. It could be called Cellular Integration. R. J. P. William
Development of Nerve Cells and Their Connections. By W. G. Hopkins and M. C. Brown. Pp. 737. Cambridge University Press. 1984. Hardback f 16.00 ($29.65), Paperback f6.95 ($13.95).
This is a lucid account of the present state of knowledge on the development of the nervous system, and of possible modifications in the adult. The book includes results obtained on a number of different species, ranging from simple invertebrates to mammals. It is structured so that it first discusses the mechanisms that commit undifferentiated cells to become highly specialized neurones, then proceeds to more complex new questions of the development of the nervous system. The authors succeed in presenting the reader with a simple version of a complex problem, without deleting any essential information. The book reviews those topics in neurobiology that have recently received most attention. The strength of the book is in the presentation of the data, which allows the reader to follow the subject, but also enables him to dive deeper by reading the well chosen key references quoted in the book. In this respect the book is an excellent review. What is, sadly lacking, however, is a critical appraisal of the relative importance of the main topics that are
Monoclonal Antibodies to Receptors. Probes fdr Receptor Structure and Function. EditedbyM. F. Greaves. Pp. 324. Chapman & Hall, London. 1984. f35.00.
One of the major current problems in the production of specialised books in the biological sciences is that printing technology fails to move with the speed of biotechnology and many books in this field are already out of date when they are published. This book copes as well with the situation as possible, although much of the data in fields such as oestrogen receptor technology requires reinterpretation in the light of recent events. The editor is distinguished in the general area and has made a clear positive contribution in outlining general principles and drawing together the different concepts and methods which are illustrated in the twelve specialised chapters. The book should, therefore, remain a valuable text for researchers in the field for some time, even though some of the data presented have been superseded. Most of the major groups of receptors are covered, including steroids, complement, B-adrenergic, thyrotrophin, insulin, transferrin, epidermal growth factor, and acetylcholine receptors. The lymphocyte reviews are restricted to the TCGF receptor and structures involved in T cell specific function. The fast-moving area of the T cell antigen receptor is poorly covered, presumably because of its over rapid development. This is nonetheless a useful volume. A. M. Campbell
Boussingault, Chemist and Agriculturist. By F. W. J. McCosh. Pp. xviii f 280. Reidel, Dordrecht. 1984. Dfl. 140 ($53.50).
Jean Baptiste Boussingault (1802-1887) as his biographer points out, was not one of the heroes of mid-nineteenth-century French chemistry working on the nowfamous theoretical problems in the emerging discipline of organic chemistry. Therein lies his importance; his polymathic, interdisciplinary career was not untypical of French chemical life at the time. Enjoying a private income, plus a post at the Conservatoire des Arts et Metiers, Boussingault was a prolific member of the Parisian chemical establishment researching fruitfully and teaching, especiahy on the borders of chemistry and agriculture. McCosh numbers among his enduring achievements the first-ever complete analysis of the crops in a rotation and the beginning of an understanding of certain features of what later became known as the nitrogen cycle. There is much to be learned from this volume about the day-to-day concerns of a 59
tion Mechanisms remains a commercially viable proposition, which means that libraries can still afford to purchase it!
The authors in their original concept of the book, and Dr Gpik in the preparation of this third edition, have endeavoured to ‘ . give an account of the physiology of flowering plants from the viewpoint of the whole plant, with particular emphasis on the processes of growth and development.’ They have succeeded admirably in producing an excellent introductory textbook. The twelve chapters are entitled Germination, Energy Flow and Carbon Turnover, Water Relations, Mineral Nutrition, Transport of Metabolites, Resistance to Stress, Growth, Progress and Pattern, Cell Growth and Growth Differentiation, Movements, Vegetative Development, and Reproductive Development. The text is concise and unambiguous, and is made interesting for the reader by. the inclusion of discussions of opposing hypotheses. In these discussions are presented caveats on theinterpretation of data supporting or refuting hypotheses, and these are of high didactic value. Discussions of cellular biochemistry and physiology are included where necessary in discussions of whole-plant response: these inclusions are sufficient to complement and never detract by being unduly esoteric. Modern techniques are discussed, such as gas liquid chromatography, mass spectrometry, high performance liquid chromatography and radioimmunoassay for the identification of plant hormones as well as the classical bioassay techniques. My sole suggestion for improvement of this introductory text would be the inclusion of an appendix listing Latin and common name equivalents of the plants mentioned.
Bio-Inorganic Chemistry. By Robert W. Hay. Pp. 210. Ellis Hot-wood, Chichester. 7984. Cloth f20.00, Paperback f9.50.
M. J. Koriol
Organic Reaction Mechanisms, 1992. Edited by A. C. Knipe and W. E. Watts. Pp. 360. Wiley, Chichester. 1984. f72.50.
The eighteenth volume of this series covers research on organic reaction mechanisms for the period December 1981 to November 1982. The coverage is comprehensive within carefully-defined limits (topics which are thoroughly reviewed elsewhere, e.g. photochemistry, are excluded), and discussion of each paper is therefore often very brief. Critical and evaluation comment is therefore almost entirely .absent, so that the overall effect is that of an annotated bibliography. Nevertheless, it is remarkable how clear an impression one gains of the state of knowledge and level of activity within a particular topic. In general this clear impression appears to be an accurate one too, judging from areas familiar to the reviewer. This series of volumes provides an excellent means of literature retrieval in an area where Chemical Abstracts is often of limited usefulness. Let us hope that Organic Reac-
R. W. Alder
currently being studied. Are scientists in developmental neurobiology asking the right questions? But such an appraisal may be beyond the scope of the book. G. Vrbova
This is an introductory text and as such I liked it, although it approaches the subject in a manner different from the one I would have chosen. The author is concerned to lead the chemist into the biological importance of inorganic elements. His stress is then on the properties of inorganic complex ions in relation to the character of the known complexes which are found in biological systems. This shows in the chapter headings which divide the topic into General Background, Physical Methods, Group IA and IIA, Non Redox Enzymes, Oxygen Transport, Haem and Copper Proteins, Nitrogen Fixation, Metal Ion Transport, and Medical Applications. Each chapter is well written and illustrated by many examples, although I was disappointed by the dates of many of the references: an undergraduate likes to feel that he is up-to-date. The problem with the approach is that the ‘purposeful’ integration of the cellular activities is lost. Energy capture is dominated by metals and so is signalling. It is difficult to present this integration but I suggest that a chapter before medicine should be included in the next edition. It could be called Cellular Integration. R. J. P. William
Development of Nerve Cells and Their Connections. By W. G. Hopkins and M. C. Brown. Pp. 737. Cambridge University Press. 1984. Hardback f 16.00 ($29.65), Paperback f6.95 ($13.95).
This is a lucid account of the present state of knowledge on the development of the nervous system, and of possible modifications in the adult. The book includes results obtained on a number of different species, ranging from simple invertebrates to mammals. It is structured so that it first discusses the mechanisms that commit undifferentiated cells to become highly specialized neurones, then proceeds to more complex new questions of the development of the nervous system. The authors succeed in presenting the reader with a simple version of a complex problem, without deleting any essential information. The book reviews those topics in neurobiology that have recently received most attention. The strength of the book is in the presentation of the data, which allows the reader to follow the subject, but also enables him to dive deeper by reading the well chosen key references quoted in the book. In this respect the book is an excellent review. What is, sadly lacking, however, is a critical appraisal of the relative importance of the main topics that are
Monoclonal Antibodies to Receptors. Probes fdr Receptor Structure and Function. EditedbyM. F. Greaves. Pp. 324. Chapman & Hall, London. 1984. f35.00.
One of the major current problems in the production of specialised books in the biological sciences is that printing technology fails to move with the speed of biotechnology and many books in this field are already out of date when they are published. This book copes as well with the situation as possible, although much of the data in fields such as oestrogen receptor technology requires reinterpretation in the light of recent events. The editor is distinguished in the general area and has made a clear positive contribution in outlining general principles and drawing together the different concepts and methods which are illustrated in the twelve specialised chapters. The book should, therefore, remain a valuable text for researchers in the field for some time, even though some of the data presented have been superseded. Most of the major groups of receptors are covered, including steroids, complement, B-adrenergic, thyrotrophin, insulin, transferrin, epidermal growth factor, and acetylcholine receptors. The lymphocyte reviews are restricted to the TCGF receptor and structures involved in T cell specific function. The fast-moving area of the T cell antigen receptor is poorly covered, presumably because of its over rapid development. This is nonetheless a useful volume. A. M. Campbell
Boussingault, Chemist and Agriculturist. By F. W. J. McCosh. Pp. xviii f 280. Reidel, Dordrecht. 1984. Dfl. 140 ($53.50).
Jean Baptiste Boussingault (1802-1887) as his biographer points out, was not one of the heroes of mid-nineteenth-century French chemistry working on the nowfamous theoretical problems in the emerging discipline of organic chemistry. Therein lies his importance; his polymathic, interdisciplinary career was not untypical of French chemical life at the time. Enjoying a private income, plus a post at the Conservatoire des Arts et Metiers, Boussingault was a prolific member of the Parisian chemical establishment researching fruitfully and teaching, especiahy on the borders of chemistry and agriculture. McCosh numbers among his enduring achievements the first-ever complete analysis of the crops in a rotation and the beginning of an understanding of certain features of what later became known as the nitrogen cycle. There is much to be learned from this volume about the day-to-day concerns of a 59