Book reviews

Cosmic Dust tty J. A. M. McDonnell Pp. xX+693. John Wiley, Chichester. f28.00.

Matter in solid state constitutes only a tiny fraction of the mass of the Universe; but small as it is, it plays an important rolt-both as an

indicator and catalyst of many processes (including the origin of the stars, or a birth of solar systems). In interstellar space it manifests

its presence mainly in the form of ‘rain nebulae’ which obstruct (scatter and polar&) the light of stars seen through them; while within the proximity of one particular star-one Sun-one’s acquaintance with solid particles in interplanetary space rests on a variety of

ways. Students concerned with the role of solid

part&s in interstellar and interplanetary dust belong, in general, to two distinct groups whose methods of research have little to do with each other. It is, therefore, refreshing to see, in the volume under review, twelve experts in both tields joining hands with each other to provide a coherent picture of the entire field.

All contributions collected by the Editor of this volume are commendable; with emphasis laid on Summaries of relevant observational

facts rather than their theoretical

interpretation. Comets, meteors, zodiacal clouds, cratering of planetary surfaces, as well as interstellar dust, are equally represented in its contents. Extensive bibliographical references (complete up to approximately 1975) enhance the value of the book, but its large size (almost 700 pages) makes it of the nature of a reference book rather than that of a text.

Zden&k Kopal

Membrane Cell Ragulation edited by P. Guerrier and M. Moreau. Pp. 174. Soci&& Fran&se de Microscopic Electronique. 1978. 80 FF.

This book contains 25 papers presented at a meeting held at Roscoff at the end of 1977. Thus the average page length of about six

Paws combined with the expansive typography indicates that there can be but little content in the papers. Some of them indeed do not run to a full page. The papers have been reproduced direct from typescript so that the book has an unsatisfactory appearance. No doubt the conference was interesting and these typescripts of value to the participants as abstracts but there is little reason for rc- publishing them. Roughly half the papers are on transport phenomena, while six are on the relation of the plasmalemma to cell-division and five on fertilisation. Huge areas of those fields that relate to cell surface phenomena %re absent, while nearly all the papers that are present in the book have already been published elsewhere.

A. S. G. Curtis

Energy Use Management, Vols. I and II edited by A. A. Fazzolare and Craig B. Smith. Pp. 999 and 700, respectively. Pergamon Press, Oxford. 19 78. fl66.00.

‘Energy Use Management’ consists of two of the heaviest books outside the encyclopaedia trade. The similar$y with an encyclopaedia extends to the content. The two volumes

contain more than 150 papers, abstracts of a further 80, and the promise of another 120 papers in volumes due to be published. Provided you are prepared to take some time finding your way round the 1700 pages the books arc a mine of information and ideas.

The papers were all presented at an International Conference held in Tucson in October 1977. Consequently most of the detailed studies being reported are based upon US data and technologies. Papers by Europeans are of a rather more general nature. The wealth of data and ideas shows that at long last energy conservation is being taken seriously in all sectors of theeconomy. Anyone doubting that it is possible to use energy more effectively has a lot to learn from those volumes.

P. F. Chopman

Controlling Factors in Plant Development by H. Shibeoka, M. Furuya, M. Katsumi and A. Takimoto. Pp. 277. The Botanical Society of Japan. 1978. Y3500+ Y600 postage.

This volume, which is the first of a series to bc published at two-yearly intervals, constitutes a new venture by the Botanical Society of Japan. The object of the series is to present, for advanced students and research workers, review papers by leading workers in selected fields of the plant sciences. Each contributor is encouraged not only to present an authoritative view of the present state of knowledge in a specific area, but also to give his personal views and contributions to his chosen topic. The result is, in general, a series of very readable and lively articles on current issues such as the hormonal control of cell extension growth, cell division, morphogenesis, and senescence. The articles will be particularly valuable for the advanced student by bringing him to the frontiers of knowledge in the field of plant development, so that he is exposed to the atmosphere of research and can get a feel for the nature of scientific knowledge and how it is acquired. The Editors are to be congratulated on their success with this first volume and if the standard is maintained with the later Special Issues they will constitute a very valuable contribution to botanical science.

Mechanic8 of Materials, Vols. 1 and 2 edited by E. J. Hearn. Pp. 643. Pergamon Press, Oxford. 1978.

This text comprises two volumes, each introduced by 22 pages of preface, contents and notation and a further tive pages of index. The work reviewed was in Rexi-cover, student edition, although a hard cover(two-volume) set is also available.

The author has limited his scope to cover at least two years of a conventional degree course, having included only one chapter on stress/strain analysis using advanced mathematical principles. This is the price which is paid for the inclusion of some 1 13 worked examples and 400 problems for solution in both volumes. It is not easy to

criticise the content but perhaps the sequence

the section on Experimental Stress Analysis placed at tbe end of the text, with the analytical sections and sections on applications preceding it.

The text deals with both solids and structural components and so encompasses some of the needs of common first or second year courses or combined studies, In the selective reading of the reviewer it was apparent that few errors of fact or type were present. Some confusion might arise in the variety of descriptions of ‘neutral axis’ (N.A.) in Chapter 4; section 19.1 could be omitted being a natural sequence to 19.2; section 18.20(b) seems entirely out of place; there appears to be a contradiction in the use of >’ as a co-ordinate and as a displacement in Chapter 22.

The work is excellent value and for the equivalent of first or second year degree studies the book should be on a recommended list. For final year there is not sufficient depth in the section on advanced topics. The author admits that much ofthis speciahsed work is outside the scope of the volume but further reading is encouraged by the inclusion of additional references.

f. Richards

The Shorter Science and Civilization in China, Vol. I. by C. Ronan. Pp. 326. Cambridge University Press. 19 78. f 7.95.

Joseph Needham’s magnum opus is the Long March of modern historiography, a personal achievement of which the intellectual and physical dimensions are as staggering in their way as were the pioneers of the mid-thirties. Not only is he rewriting the history of China, for in inviting us as he does in Volume 2 to consider such fundamental matters as the Confucian and Taoist philosophies from his non-traditional, scientific viewpoint he is doing no less than that, but in his carefully documented comparisons and contrasts between scientific knowledge in China and other parts of the pre-modern world he is making a unique contribution to the history of the world. When the first volume appeared even Needham himself cannot have foreseen the eventual scope of his project. Now, a quarter of a century and nine hefty books later. we are still a long way from the end ofthe story. Already SCC has spawned other works and has proved an invaluable reference work and instigator of further research, yet by its very enormity (and its price) it is growing beyond the reach of many would-be readers. An abridged version is, therefore, much to be welcomed. The first volume of Colin Ronan’s edition covers the first two volumes of the original. Needham’s own text is retained wherever possible, simplified, updated and corrected in places, and accompanied by many of the original illustrdons. It is a d8unting task that Mr Ronan has undertaken. The first volume is on the whole successful, but the real test will come later on when it is a question of condensing more complex scientific information.

Keith Pratt

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