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/36/5/318/32156/4444822.pdf by guest on 26 September 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 EMBRYOLOGY 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 biologists 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 arthropods. 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 bird 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 Mammals 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 Organization and presentation of the upper-elementary reader where the topics are very good. Any topic of in- "dinosaur interest" seems to be high. SOCIAL terest can be studied independently; Black-and-white pictures are abun- most readers will use the information dant although uneven in quality and IMPLICATIONS selectively, without first having to read sometimes misplaced with respect to the the entire book. The value of the book text. Learning aids, such as charts, OF BIOLOGICALEDUCATION as a reference is thus greatly enhanced. maps, and drawings, are absent; conse- Repetition in certain places (perhaps quently, readers must rely exclusively Edited by unavoidable) detracts from the gen- on narrative for conclusions about such ArnoldB. Grobman erally good impression created by this things as dinosaur genealogy, geograph- book. Some terminology is confusing ic distribution, and evolutionary rela- Teachers and students of life sci- and perhaps unnecessarily complicated; tionships. ences are forced to consider the social other terms have been oversimplified. The book does not represent a con- In some places the reader is assumed ceptual or inquiry approach to learn- implications of biology. The impor- to be quite ignorant of the subject ing but depends on its sometimes dra- tant issues can not be avoided and matter; in others he is expected to matic narrative to foster understanding. deserve a full and balanced discussion. know entirely too much. Some topics Key science concepts are included in are lightly treated and others are de- the narrative but are not used as or- Recognizing this need, the Nation- veloped at great length; this may re- ganizers of information; instead, the in- al Association of Biology Teachers flect the different levels of the author's trepid pioneer and contemporary ex- invited distinguished biologists to ad- interests. plorers and their work are the keys to dress themselves to a variety of social This book is very well done and is chapter organization. The book reaches Downloaded from http://online.ucpress.edu/abt/article-pdf/36/5/318/32156/4444822.pdf by guest on 26 September 2021 issues.