Book Reviews

In his preface the author states that this book is written from the standpoint of cell structure with deliberate emphasis, where possible, on spatial considerations. Indeed-the whole book is amply illustrated with many photographs, mostly obtained by electron microscopy. These illustrations are rather classical ones, produced mainly from thin-sectioning. There are no freeze-etched surface views on nuclear membranes, Milles spreads of chromatin or immuno-stained microtubules. This might be considered as a drawback but essentially it does not detract from the main topic of the book: the elucidation of whole plant development, starting from the cellular environment. The author has explicitly chosen this concept and avoids the discussion of all cell organelles in detail. Only two of the most striking plant cell components, the plastids and the excreted cell walls, are dealt with in separate chapters. The ensuing chapters describe developmental strategies, cell differentiation, pattern formation, polarity and whole plant development. The book is particularly suited as an introductory text for students starting courses on general botany, developmental biology or plant cell biology. It is well edited, although personally I would prefer a more glossy paper quality for the reproduction of the micrographs. The text is concise and easily read. Also the price will be no hindrance in the wide-spread use of this book. It comes right in time to give a broader scope on how plants are built up from cells, especially after the boost of narrowly focussed texts based on ground plants parts and isolated organelles. More experienced readers and researchers will also be pleasantly surprised.