Botany. An introduction to plant biology, 4th edn

Abstract

James D. Mauseth's exceptional text Botany: an introduction to plant biology is now released in its fourth edition. The content is divided into four main sections: Plant Structure; Plant Physiology and Development; Genetics and Evolution; and Ecology. Within these sections, standard topics such as cell structure, cell division, plant morphology, plant physiology and diversity are given thorough coverage. Each chapter explores the subject matter in extensive detail providing a number of standard as well as interesting new examples to illustrate the different botanical concepts presented. The text is supported by a number of excellent photographs, diagrams and other graphics. Within the chapters, there are interesting box essays called ‘Plants Do Things Differently’ that highlight the unique features of plant biology and contrast plants with aspects of animal biology that are probably more familiar to students. Essays called ‘Alternatives’ describe variation among species in fundamental aspects of plant biology. ‘Plants and People’ essays provide interesting insights on the numerous interactions and links between humans and the botanical world. These boxes present useful vignettes that should help students better understand and appreciate the importance of plants ecologically, culturally, scientifically and economically. The content of the book is thorough and presents an accurate overview of modern understanding about and perspectives on plants; however, this thorough coverage of individual topics is one of the drawbacks of the book. At times, the writing can be dense and may potentially be difficult for some students to follow. This aspect of the book perhaps makes it a better choice for an advanced level or possibly an honours course in botany rather than for a general introductory botany course with mixed majors and non-majors. Another difficulty is that although the book contains numerous useful illustrations and graphics, there are some in which it is difficult to differentiate structures due to the similarity of colours in the diagrams. These palette problems may make it especially difficult for students to distinguish among important points in projected images. Perhaps these less-distinct illustrations are from previous editions while more brightly coloured figures are new additions. The book covers all of the essential topics, but it does seem that the ecology section is somewhat lacking. It contains only two chapters: one chapter is a standard coverage of biomes and the other is a combination of populations and ecosystems. Coverage of plant community ecology is noticeably missing. Likewise, it seems odd that there are no chapters that specifically address topics of plant biotechnology, plant conservation, biofuels or agriculture. Given the importance of these topics and the wealth of information that exists about them, it is unfortunate that their only coverage comes in the boxed essays mentioned above. Hopefully future editions will expand coverage to include these topics. In summary, there are some minor issues with this book. However, Mauseth's Botany is overall a very good book and provides a worthy title for instructors of introductory botany courses to consider. While it can clearly serve as the primary text for a general botany course, it could also potentially be used as a supporting text for other courses as well.