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______- ___ ------~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~-? 16 chapters effectively survey the field sometimes superficial treatment of bo- Elements of Biological Science, which of introductory biology, beginning with tanic topics, which is no doubt ex- is a chapter-for-chapter and section- the first chapter, which is an abstract plained by the zoologic backgrounds of for-section abridgement. It is authori- of the total book. From here, the au- the authors. tative, well written, and handsomely thors begin each topic from an histori- Richard A. Dodge produced. Biology books have been cal prospective and then develop the Project BIOTECH weaned away from a plodding phylum- conceptual points of the topic, always American Institute of by-phylum parade of organisms; in- building from factual evidence and Biological Sciences stead, most now follow an organization leading to reasonable hypotheses based Washington, D.C. that begins with chemistry and cells and on research evidence. The unifying ends, usually, with and evolu- theme of the topics discussed is func- ELEMENTS OF BIOLOGICAL SCIENCE, by Wil- tion. Keeton differs from this standard tional biology, integrating principles of liam T. Keeton. 1973. W. W. Norton pattern only in dealing with and with more & Co., New York. 583 p. $9.95. before covering genesis and diversity of traditional and . Prob- organisms; therefore, many of the data able origins are discussed, stressing the Currently, more than 50 titles are called for to understand chapter 17 are unity of chemical origins and mecha- available for use in introductory col- not presented until chapters 19-22, al- nism of energy transfer. Organismal legiate biology programs. Over 90% of though the order could be varied, de- systems for maintenance are empha- these consist of the same content and pending on how reading assignments sized without slighting the need to emphasis, exhibit the same inability to are made. understand systems for the mainte- explicate science as a way of knowing In spite of evidence for inclusion of nance of species. The authors take an or of biology as a science, present the relevance, data on which judgments intensive, thorough, no-nonsense ap- same illustrations and examples, and can be based, contemporary problems, proach to topic discussions, being place the same emphasis on biology as a the epistemology of science, and the always informative and detailed with- rhetoric of conclusions. They differ from necessity to evaluate scientific data, one out overburdening the reader. The text one another only in the order of their looks in vain in the index for words material is supplemented by well- paragraphs and chapters, and they show such as hypothesis, theory, abortion, executed diagrammatic presentations, only minor omissions or exclusions by heroin, organic foods; and in the text where possible, without using photo- means of which one can be differenti- one finds a single sentence on mari- graphs. The text is quite complete, em- ated from another. juana and another on LSD. When these phasizes vocabulary by use of boldface This many "different" volumes con- items of biologic concern, which cur- type, and has a section of appendices for tinue to survive primarily because rently involve college students deeply, more detailed elaboration of topics, an enough copies are sold for the pub- are placed against such index terms as excellent glossary, and a complete index. lishers to continue them as viable titles. Acraciae, gametangium, osculum, ret- Because the book is softback, the cost However, only a few can be categorized ting, and virion, the relative value of to students should be reasonable with- as academic best sellers. Among these each series in the mind of a textbook out sacrificing quality of scholarly en- is Keeton's Biological Science, now in author readily can be ascertained. There deavor or thoroughness of presenta- its second edition. From this 888-page is a marked difference between what tion. The only failing I noted was the book has been derived this shorter we hear is needed in introductory-

BOOK REVIEWS 317 biology courses and what is adopted for called biohistory-an interweaving of phylum Uniramia (subphyla Onycho- use in these courses. Textbook authors man's cultural record with that of the phora, Myriopoda, and Hexapoda) phy- cannot be faulted for providing mate- animals that have suffered or bene- lum Crustacea, and phylum Chelicerata. rials found to be acceptable for the fited from man's long presence west of W. Robert Stamper great majority of collegiate courses. A the Urals. Thus, Burton will cite a Cheltenham High School few publishers who have attempted to Latin author by way of background to Wyncote, Pa. lead the marketplace in response to a modern behavioral study; or he will expressed desires for change have had invite us to become Neolithic villagers to retreat from their positions, because sharing the plains of the Danube with WASPS: AN ACCOUNT OF THE BIOLOGY AND NATURAL OF AND the change is more verbal than actual that mysterious beast the aurochs (an- HISTORY SOCIAL SOLI- TARY WASPS, by J. Philip Spradbery. on the part of collegiate instructors. We cestor of dairy cattle; extinct since 1973. University of Washington Press, are faced with a chicken-and-egg 1627). Seattle. 408 p. $17.50 (hardback). proposition: instructors say they don't The pictures-at least one to each teach the way they'd like to, because large page, and all in color (passable to British hornets and yellow jackets materials are not available, and pub- good)-can be enjoyed by anyone; at are the central theme of this book. Soli- lishers say that materials are not made the same time they precisely augment tary and semisocial species from vari- available because an insufficient num- the text, which can be understood by ous parts of the world are included in ber of classes exist in the nonrhetoric- any high-school student who isn't baf- discussions of the origin and evolution of-conclusions mode. fled by occasional Briticisms and the of true social life in the paper-nest Keeton's is a fine textbook of its kind, metric system. Also, the tone is right: Hymenoptera. Broad but brief coverage widely used and greatly appreciated. To ecology books tend to be either statis- of the structure and function of these discredit it for not fulfilling other func- tically dry or militantly shrill, but Bur- vespids is also included, along with tax- Downloaded from http://online.ucpress.edu/abt/article-pdf/36/5/317/32122/4444819.pdf by guest on 01 October 2021 tions is perhaps unfair. As the pur- ton's is simply appreciative, although onomy and distribution of British spe- chasing power of college faculties de- tinged with regret for a landscape cies. Behavior is viewed in terms of termines what is offered in textbooks, ruined or a species endangered or gone, individuals (queens, males, or work- we can only assume that Keeton fills This book ranks with others in a ers) and of a single organism (the en- this academic niche satisfactorily. Those series (including Bernard Stonehouse's tire colony). instructors desiring other types of mate- fine Animals of the Arctic) that any The contents of this book and the rials will have to continue to demand school, any naturalist, would wish to manner of their presentation apparent- them loudly enough to become a mar- own. ly are designed to offer something to ketplace force by demonstrating that Sam Gadd everyone, from backyard child-natu- their teaching actually follows their ex- Colorado Springs, Colo. ralist to dedicated hymenopterist, who pressed desires; or else they should has any interest whatsoever in wasps. avoid confusing the issue by speaking This volume will be most useful as a AND PHYLOGENY IN AN- one way and teaching another. source of information for biology teach- William V. Mayer NELIDA AND ARTHROPODA, by Donald T. Anderson. 1973. Pergamon Press, Inc., ers at all levels. It also provides enter- University of Colorado taining and Elmsford, N.Y. 509 p. $24.00. informative reading for Boulder many and naturalists. It should be required reading for gradu- This single volume admirably orga- ate students in entomology and numer- Zoology nizes the somewhat diverse body of ous other biologic disciplines. All spe- knowledge relating to the comparative cialists in the Hymenoptera will find it of ANIMALS OF EUROPE: THE ECOLOGYOF THE embryology annelids and . an indispensible reference. WILDLIF, by Maurice Burton. 1973. It is a technical book-detailed and fully A wealth of information, condensed Holt, Rinehart & Winston, New York. illustrated. Morphologic facts of em- from the world literature and the au- 172 p. $11.95 (hardback). bryologic development are used to thor's experience, is presented in a develop speculations on phylogenetic direct, mostly concise and straight- In our general reading and in our relationships. forward manner. The book is plentiful- perusal of scientific journals we often Conclusions concerning evolutionary ly supplied with graphs, tables, maps, encounter European animals: adder, trends, based upon the embryologic de- and photographs, including a liberal bream, cockchafer, and so on through an velopment of the various groups, are as number of color pictures. The addition alphabet of unfamiliars. If puzzled, we follows: of scanning electron micrographs is an turn to an encyclopedia, which gives us Onychophora appear to be related to up-to-date and very welcome touch. snippets of information but neglects the the segmental ancestors of the annelids, Production of this volume by a photo "who are you when you're at home?" but the onychophoran pattern of devel- offset process has provided an extreme- For instance, my Encyclopaedia Britan- opment seems to be the basis of devel- ly sharp, smear-proof black-on-white nica (1970) confinns that the red kite opmental diversity and specialization printed page. However, the large, was, in Shakespeare's time, a common found in Myriopoda and Hexapoda: the almost boldfaced type seems crowded scavenger in the streets of London; but onychophoran-myriopod-hexapod group within the lines, creating a moderately of its present status I am told nothing is therefore considered a single phylo- stigmatic effect on most pages; the few at all. Animals of Europe, however, genetic group, "Uniramia." less intensely black pages are much gives me a vivid idea of the and Crustacea are unrelated to Annelida easier to read. Headings, scientific its fate, in an ecologic setting that con- or to Uniramia (except as members of names, and explanations of illustrative trasts 16th-century with 20th-cenury a larger, spiral-cleavage group of in- material are clear; photographic repro- Britain. vertebrates). ductions are superior, in most in- This is typical of the readable, The chelicerates appear to be a third stances. The spine binding of the copy broad-gauge text. Maurice Burton group of arthropods. Possible relation- I read was quite weak. (best known for his Systematic Dic- ships with either Annelida or Crustacea The outstanding value of this book is tionraryof of the World) has are unclear, and a phylogenetic origin its summary of worldwide knowledge something integrative to say about independent of the annelids and arthro- of vespid and related wasps, with a se- hundreds of creatures, from abalones to pods is not excluded, lected bibliography of 567 titles. Much wrens (and much about plants, too). The evidence presented in this book, emphasis is placed, understandably, on Often the account is plain natural his- in addition to evidence from compara- the British and Australian literature, tory or elementary ecology; again and tive morphology, seems to support three but other important sources are equi- again, though, it is what might be separate designations for arthropods: tably treated.

318 THEAMERICAN BIOLOGY TEACHER, MAY 1974