PREFACE
in viewpoint or experiencing a reawakening of interest in long-dormant
areas. The more descriptive and taxonomic fields in particular are
today sharing a revivification, as the implications of evolutionary and
ecological studies make themselves felt in the "new systematics." Inasmuch as the analysis of variation is basic in all biological studies and
the problems of classification enter into every choice and use of biological
material, no one should fail to profit from the very comprehensive and
illuminating treatment of trends in systematic botany, prepared by
David D. Keck. It may be safely said that no review of this sort has
been previously available, and it should prove to be invaluable. The
editor hopes to follow up this review of trends in systematic botany
with one in some future volume, on trends in systematic zoology. Meantime, one particular aspect of the evolutionary and systematic approach
to the study of animals is provided in the review by M. J. D. White of
chromosomal evolution and its relation to polymorphism and to speciation in the animal kingdom.
Since the Second World War the study of animal behavior, particularly in Europe, has been reinvigorated. Much of the newer study of
behavior is firmly based on an experimental approach, over and above
the descriptive and analytical methods of earlier times. It is gratifying
to be able to present a review in which insect behavior—which is by no
means limited to the highly popularized studies of von Frisch and others
on bee communication—is placed in the appropriate physiological context. Chemoreception is surely quite as significant as vision in orienting
insect behavior, whether in foodgetting or in mating. V. G. Dethier's
review should do much to sharpen the appreciation of biologists for
the newer researches in insect physiology and behavior.
No volume attempting to provide even a partial survey of biological
progress could afford to ignore the phenomenal interpenetration of
physiology and biochemistry which is taking place in both plant and
animal biology at the present time. On the one hand, the biochemist
is becoming aware that cells are not mere bags of enzymes, substrates,
and products; on the other, the physiologist is learning that it is intrinsically impossible to explain physiological processes except by way of
a fundamental biochemical approach. This interrelationship of fields is
well illustrated in the two final contributions to the present volume of
the series. Animal hormones cannot be understood simply in terms of
where they are produced and on what end-organs they have a specific
effect. The action of hormones on cells is ultimately biochemical. This,
however, need not mean that hormones always control the rates of
specific processes by modifying the reactions of enzymes with their substrates. It is also possible, and in many instances, as Rachmiel Levine
in viewpoint or experiencing a reawakening of interest in long-dormant
areas. The more descriptive and taxonomic fields in particular are
today sharing a revivification, as the implications of evolutionary and
ecological studies make themselves felt in the "new systematics." Inasmuch as the analysis of variation is basic in all biological studies and
the problems of classification enter into every choice and use of biological
material, no one should fail to profit from the very comprehensive and
illuminating treatment of trends in systematic botany, prepared by
David D. Keck. It may be safely said that no review of this sort has
been previously available, and it should prove to be invaluable. The
editor hopes to follow up this review of trends in systematic botany
with one in some future volume, on trends in systematic zoology. Meantime, one particular aspect of the evolutionary and systematic approach
to the study of animals is provided in the review by M. J. D. White of
chromosomal evolution and its relation to polymorphism and to speciation in the animal kingdom.
Since the Second World War the study of animal behavior, particularly in Europe, has been reinvigorated. Much of the newer study of
behavior is firmly based on an experimental approach, over and above
the descriptive and analytical methods of earlier times. It is gratifying
to be able to present a review in which insect behavior—which is by no
means limited to the highly popularized studies of von Frisch and others
on bee communication—is placed in the appropriate physiological context. Chemoreception is surely quite as significant as vision in orienting
insect behavior, whether in foodgetting or in mating. V. G. Dethier's
review should do much to sharpen the appreciation of biologists for
the newer researches in insect physiology and behavior.
No volume attempting to provide even a partial survey of biological
progress could afford to ignore the phenomenal interpenetration of
physiology and biochemistry which is taking place in both plant and
animal biology at the present time. On the one hand, the biochemist
is becoming aware that cells are not mere bags of enzymes, substrates,
and products; on the other, the physiologist is learning that it is intrinsically impossible to explain physiological processes except by way of
a fundamental biochemical approach. This interrelationship of fields is
well illustrated in the two final contributions to the present volume of
the series. Animal hormones cannot be understood simply in terms of
where they are produced and on what end-organs they have a specific
effect. The action of hormones on cells is ultimately biochemical. This,
however, need not mean that hormones always control the rates of
specific processes by modifying the reactions of enzymes with their substrates. It is also possible, and in many instances, as Rachmiel Levine