Nematology: Advances and Perspectives, Vol. 1, Nematode Morphology, Physiology and Ecology. By Z. X. Chen, S. Y. Chen and D. W. Dickson, pp. 656. International CABI Publishing, UK, 2004. ISBN 0 85199 645. £85.00 (US$150.00).

Abstract

As a zoologist, I have never really understood why those of us who study nematodes continue to partition ourselves into at least two distinct camps, one of which works on the plant-parasitic and free-living species, and the other primarily on animal-parasitic species. And I suspect that nematodes themselves are equally puzzled by this segregation of their ardent scholars. Historically, of course, plant nematologists aggregated in crop research and botany departments, whereas the animal nematologists were stationed in livestock, veterinary, medical and zoological departments of research institutes and universities. I found much of interest in NematologyVol. 1, but I was left with the impression that, whilst the ‘iron curtain’ was beginning to tumble, it still had a long way to fall. We have not yet reached a stage where nematodes as distinct organisms, whatever their niche, take priority in our thinking. But I race ahead. Let us retrace and begin with the details of this volume.