Under The Microscope

DESIGNS OF LIFE by Meg Bayley; Longman Paul, 1992; 321 pages; $34.95.

This is a textbook (NOT a lab manual!) for senior secondary students of genetics. The material is over-concise in SOME places, chatty and diffuse in others! It all appears to be there, though! I am NOT in the habit of capitals and exclamation marks and "e.g." lists that contain examples of something else and (like this) parenthetical coynesses, but the author is a better biologist than I am a grammatician, and two independent readers have told me not to be unkind.

The book contains exam questions, but no bibliography. It is well illustrated with sketches, tracings, several photographs, and has a pleasant frontispiece showing the Ascent of Woman. Overall, it is good value.

Ken McAllister