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Writing a Scientific Paper. Fourth edition
BIOCHEMICAL EDUCATION
October 1977 Vol. 5 No. 4
Plant Biochemistry (3rd Edition)
protein synthesis, as well as mitosis and meiosis are discussed. In the following chapter (68 pages) some specialized plant cells and tissues are introduced. The following 18 pages contain the already mentioned chapter on the procaryotic cell and the last 29 pages an introduction into cytological and some biochemical methods. A requirement of a textbook on cytology is to contain informative illustrations and in this respect the book leaves much to be desired. Several illustrations are too small to identify the important thing, others are of bad quality due to the fact that they are not printed on glossy paper. The pictures contain many abbreviations which are listed in the beginning of the book; however, for less frequent abbreviations it is a troublesome operation to be continually having to look them up there. The interpretation of electron microscopic pictures needs some experience; therefore the aspect of a structure after different treatments should be described in more detail whenever it occurs for the first time. For greater helpfulness to the student, it would have been better if plants had been called not just by their scientific names but also introduced by a short comment. Description of functions of the cellular components occupies much space. This is necessary because structure and function cannot be separated, but the selection does not always seem successful. For instance, meiosis - - a truely cytological topic - - is given only small space whereas biochemical topics, even such basic things as the formula and importance of ATP, are dealt with very exhaustively. On the other hand, these presentations sometimes contain gaps: e.g. on p. 138 the authors mention that amino acids have to be activated by a reaction with ATP and in the next sentence they talk about amino acyi tRNA without telling where this comes from. Altogether, this book would be more useful to German speaking students if the quaILty of its illustrationswere improved, such topics as meiosis and cross-references to animal cells be given more space at the expense of basic biochemical information and if the student was given more assistance to help him understand the material. Until now, I have hardly mentioned those parts of the book which are especially useful: the chapter on specialized cells and that on cytological methods. Information on the structure of specialized cells for a student in Germany is otherwise hidden in the primary literature. V. Ssymank Pflanzcnphysiologisches Institut Universit~itGtttingen D-3400 G6ttingen, Germany (FRG)
E d i t e d by J a m e s B o n n e r a n d Joseph E. V a r n e r , Pp. 925. P u b l i s h e d by A c a d e m i c Press Inc. (London) Ltd., 1977, £18.10 or $24.50. The first edition of this treatise was published in 1965 and consisted of 36 chapters, written by 28 different authors, arranged in 5 sections entitled 'The Plant Cell: Substructures and Subfunctions', 'Basic Metabolism', 'Some Plant Metabolism', 'Contol' and 'Autotrophy'. The third edition consists of 26 chapters, written by 31 different authors, arranged in only 3 sections, namely, 'The Plant Cell: Substructures and Subfunctions', 'Basic Metabolism' and 'Autotrophy'. One would expect from the title of the book and from statements in the preface that it would be comprehensive in its treatment of plant biochemistry and lay particular emphasis on those areas of biochemistry which are characteristic of or peculiar to plants. It is surprizing to find, therefore, that subject matter of sufficient importance to be given full chapters in the first edition is omitted altogether in the third. This is particularly evident in the area loosely termed 'secondary plant metabolism' which includes such topics as terpenes, alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins and phenylpropanes, all of which were dealt with in the section entitled 'Some Plant Metabolism' in the first edition but which do not appear in the third. Equally surprizing is the omission of a chapter on mitochondria and their function from the section on 'The Plant Cell: Substructures and Subfunction'. It is also disturbing to find that despite the presence of two chapters dealing with the cell wall, one entitled 'The Primary Cell Wall', the other 'Cell Wall Biogenesis', there is little reference to the secondary cell wall or to lignification. These omissions mar an otherwise excellent book for many of the chapters are written by worldwide authorities and are first class. It has been the aim of the editors to have their collaborating authors present each topic comprehensively, starting with general principles and ending with the current state of knowledge and this has been achieved to a remarkable degree. Each chapter is concluded with a list of general references giving review articles pertinent to the subject matter and an extensive list of references to the original literature; the former will be of considerable help to the student, the latter to the research worker. The high standards of the publishers have been maintained in the presentation of textual material, diagrams and electron micrographs. E. I. Mercer Department of Biochemistry, University College of Wales, Aberystwyth, U.K.
Die Pfianzenzelle By H e i n e r L e h m a n n a n d Dieter Schulz. Pp. 316. U T B , E u g e n U l m e r Verlag, Stuttgart, 1976. D M 22.80, This introductory book, written for students of biology, medicine and pharmacology, about the structure of the plant cell and the function of the cellular constituents aims at filling the gap between a cytology chapter in a textbook on botany and more specialized literature. Comparable introductions into cytology are usually written in English and thus there was a need for a German text. The book has been confined to higher plants with some references to algae and a special chapter on procaryotes. The restriction to plant cells is justifiable by the predominance of animal cells (especially mammalian ones) in cytology textbooks, but an integrated plant and animal cytology would be preferable. The first part of the book (162 pages) deals with the meristematic cell. In this chapter the constituents of a plant cell and some of their biochemical functions (e.g. glycolysis, photosynthesis, respiration) are described; in the section on the nucleus, DNA, RNA and
83
Writing a Scientific Paper. Fourth edition. By V e r n o n Booth. Pp. 28. T h e Biochemical Society, L o n d o n , 1977. Orders, t o g e t h e r with r e m i t t a n c e to T h e Biochemical Society Book D e p o t , P.O. Box 32, Colchester, CO2 8HP, Essex, U . K . £1.00 or $2.00 (postage included). (Discounts o n b u l k orders: 11-20 copies, 10%; 21-30, 2 0 % ; 3 1 - - 5 0 , 3 0 % a n d 51 or more, 4 0 % . This booklet originated as the prizewinning entry in a competition organised by Koch-Light Laboratories who gave away 10,000 copies of the first edition. A second edition was distributed privately by the Author and later the Biochemical Society was given permission to publish a third edition which was also reproduced in Biochemical Society Transactions 1975, 3, 1-26. A revised fourth edition has now appeared, a tribute to the continuing popularity of this very useful booklet. There is little that need be added to the favourable review of the third edition in Biochemical Education, 1975, 3, 72. The revised edition closely follows the last one; a few more examples have been added and the text has grown by 1½pages about 6% - - whereas the price, unfortunately, has increased by 100%. This is a pity as young research workers may be inhibited from purchasing personal copies. Librarians may not be keen on adding this slender and easily removed booklet to their collections. As was said before, all those about to write a thesis or their first paper would do well to read this publication first. Indeed, supervisors should make it compulsory reading. B. A. Kilby -
-
October 1977 Vol. 5 No. 4
Plant Biochemistry (3rd Edition)
protein synthesis, as well as mitosis and meiosis are discussed. In the following chapter (68 pages) some specialized plant cells and tissues are introduced. The following 18 pages contain the already mentioned chapter on the procaryotic cell and the last 29 pages an introduction into cytological and some biochemical methods. A requirement of a textbook on cytology is to contain informative illustrations and in this respect the book leaves much to be desired. Several illustrations are too small to identify the important thing, others are of bad quality due to the fact that they are not printed on glossy paper. The pictures contain many abbreviations which are listed in the beginning of the book; however, for less frequent abbreviations it is a troublesome operation to be continually having to look them up there. The interpretation of electron microscopic pictures needs some experience; therefore the aspect of a structure after different treatments should be described in more detail whenever it occurs for the first time. For greater helpfulness to the student, it would have been better if plants had been called not just by their scientific names but also introduced by a short comment. Description of functions of the cellular components occupies much space. This is necessary because structure and function cannot be separated, but the selection does not always seem successful. For instance, meiosis - - a truely cytological topic - - is given only small space whereas biochemical topics, even such basic things as the formula and importance of ATP, are dealt with very exhaustively. On the other hand, these presentations sometimes contain gaps: e.g. on p. 138 the authors mention that amino acids have to be activated by a reaction with ATP and in the next sentence they talk about amino acyi tRNA without telling where this comes from. Altogether, this book would be more useful to German speaking students if the quaILty of its illustrationswere improved, such topics as meiosis and cross-references to animal cells be given more space at the expense of basic biochemical information and if the student was given more assistance to help him understand the material. Until now, I have hardly mentioned those parts of the book which are especially useful: the chapter on specialized cells and that on cytological methods. Information on the structure of specialized cells for a student in Germany is otherwise hidden in the primary literature. V. Ssymank Pflanzcnphysiologisches Institut Universit~itGtttingen D-3400 G6ttingen, Germany (FRG)
E d i t e d by J a m e s B o n n e r a n d Joseph E. V a r n e r , Pp. 925. P u b l i s h e d by A c a d e m i c Press Inc. (London) Ltd., 1977, £18.10 or $24.50. The first edition of this treatise was published in 1965 and consisted of 36 chapters, written by 28 different authors, arranged in 5 sections entitled 'The Plant Cell: Substructures and Subfunctions', 'Basic Metabolism', 'Some Plant Metabolism', 'Contol' and 'Autotrophy'. The third edition consists of 26 chapters, written by 31 different authors, arranged in only 3 sections, namely, 'The Plant Cell: Substructures and Subfunctions', 'Basic Metabolism' and 'Autotrophy'. One would expect from the title of the book and from statements in the preface that it would be comprehensive in its treatment of plant biochemistry and lay particular emphasis on those areas of biochemistry which are characteristic of or peculiar to plants. It is surprizing to find, therefore, that subject matter of sufficient importance to be given full chapters in the first edition is omitted altogether in the third. This is particularly evident in the area loosely termed 'secondary plant metabolism' which includes such topics as terpenes, alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins and phenylpropanes, all of which were dealt with in the section entitled 'Some Plant Metabolism' in the first edition but which do not appear in the third. Equally surprizing is the omission of a chapter on mitochondria and their function from the section on 'The Plant Cell: Substructures and Subfunction'. It is also disturbing to find that despite the presence of two chapters dealing with the cell wall, one entitled 'The Primary Cell Wall', the other 'Cell Wall Biogenesis', there is little reference to the secondary cell wall or to lignification. These omissions mar an otherwise excellent book for many of the chapters are written by worldwide authorities and are first class. It has been the aim of the editors to have their collaborating authors present each topic comprehensively, starting with general principles and ending with the current state of knowledge and this has been achieved to a remarkable degree. Each chapter is concluded with a list of general references giving review articles pertinent to the subject matter and an extensive list of references to the original literature; the former will be of considerable help to the student, the latter to the research worker. The high standards of the publishers have been maintained in the presentation of textual material, diagrams and electron micrographs. E. I. Mercer Department of Biochemistry, University College of Wales, Aberystwyth, U.K.
Die Pfianzenzelle By H e i n e r L e h m a n n a n d Dieter Schulz. Pp. 316. U T B , E u g e n U l m e r Verlag, Stuttgart, 1976. D M 22.80, This introductory book, written for students of biology, medicine and pharmacology, about the structure of the plant cell and the function of the cellular constituents aims at filling the gap between a cytology chapter in a textbook on botany and more specialized literature. Comparable introductions into cytology are usually written in English and thus there was a need for a German text. The book has been confined to higher plants with some references to algae and a special chapter on procaryotes. The restriction to plant cells is justifiable by the predominance of animal cells (especially mammalian ones) in cytology textbooks, but an integrated plant and animal cytology would be preferable. The first part of the book (162 pages) deals with the meristematic cell. In this chapter the constituents of a plant cell and some of their biochemical functions (e.g. glycolysis, photosynthesis, respiration) are described; in the section on the nucleus, DNA, RNA and
83
Writing a Scientific Paper. Fourth edition. By V e r n o n Booth. Pp. 28. T h e Biochemical Society, L o n d o n , 1977. Orders, t o g e t h e r with r e m i t t a n c e to T h e Biochemical Society Book D e p o t , P.O. Box 32, Colchester, CO2 8HP, Essex, U . K . £1.00 or $2.00 (postage included). (Discounts o n b u l k orders: 11-20 copies, 10%; 21-30, 2 0 % ; 3 1 - - 5 0 , 3 0 % a n d 51 or more, 4 0 % . This booklet originated as the prizewinning entry in a competition organised by Koch-Light Laboratories who gave away 10,000 copies of the first edition. A second edition was distributed privately by the Author and later the Biochemical Society was given permission to publish a third edition which was also reproduced in Biochemical Society Transactions 1975, 3, 1-26. A revised fourth edition has now appeared, a tribute to the continuing popularity of this very useful booklet. There is little that need be added to the favourable review of the third edition in Biochemical Education, 1975, 3, 72. The revised edition closely follows the last one; a few more examples have been added and the text has grown by 1½pages about 6% - - whereas the price, unfortunately, has increased by 100%. This is a pity as young research workers may be inhibited from purchasing personal copies. Librarians may not be keen on adding this slender and easily removed booklet to their collections. As was said before, all those about to write a thesis or their first paper would do well to read this publication first. Indeed, supervisors should make it compulsory reading. B. A. Kilby -
-