Review by Choice Review
Phyllotaxis refers to the arrangement of leaf or floret primordia at the shoot apex, and phyllotactic patterns are subject to mathematical analyses. Jean's intention is to provide a unified concept of phyllotaxis, incorporating its phyletic, ontogenetic, and functional aspects. Following the prologue, Jean considers pattern recognition, pattern regeneration, and origins of phyllotactic patterns. In the latter discussion, protein lattices and crystallography are briefly examined. A final section is devoted to selected topics: properties of phyllotactic lattices, the William-Brittain model, Fujita's frequency diagrams, L-systems, the Perron-Frobenius theory in relation to the growth of filamentous organisms, and the Meinhardt-Gierer theory of prepattern formation. The book is provocatively and beautifully written. Its contents, however, lie more in the realm of mathematics than in the field of morphogenesis. Questions and problems; glossary; extensive bibliography. This book will doubtless become a classic. Graduate; faculty. L. W. Roberts; emeritus, University of Idaho
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
