Titles That May Interest You

and one chapter to each of the other species. Each chapter has a lengthy list of appropriate and current references. Clear diagrams and photographs illustrate the straightforward text. The authors seem to be aware that the volume will be read by advanced undergraduate and graduate students to keep abreast of the latest advances in a "hot" field of biology. Note the interesting error (typo?) on page 166. I will recommend Genes and Embryos as collateral reading for my own classes in genetics and to colleagues not likely to become professional developmental biologists. E. D. Garber Department of Ecology and Evolution University of Chicago Chicago, Illinois 60637 TITLES THAT MAY INTEREST YOU As a service to our readers whose specific interests span the full spectrum of the fields of biology and medicine, we are providing the titles of and relevant information about some of the books sent to us by the publishers that will not receive full review treatment. Whenever possible we will add a short description of each book. AIDS and the Health Care System. Edited by Lawrence O. Gostin. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1990. Pp. 299. $35.00; (paper) $12.95. This comprehensive and timely review of the healdi care aspects of the AIDS epidemic comprises 19 papers grouped into eight parts, namely, policies and priorities planning for the 1990s; prevention, treatment, care, and dignity; patients ' rights and public health: confidentiality, duty to warn, and discrimination; die threat to health care workers: assessment and response; professional responsibility ; balancing hope and risk: regulation of biomedical research; the price: financing, reimbursement systems, and the financial effect on providers; and the international perspective. Alzheimer's Disease: Treatment and Long-Term Management. Edited by Jeffrey L. Cummings and Bruce L. Miller. New York: Marcel Dekker, 1990. Pp. 390. $125.00 (U.S. and Canada); $150.00 (all other countries). "Designed as a practical handbook of therapy, it is intended for family physicians , geriatricians, internists, neurologists, nurses, psychologists, social workers, and family members engaged in the care of DAT (Dementia of the Alzheimer Type) patients or their families." It purports to include all the new treatment and management approaches in a single volume. The 25 papers are grouped into four major areas of treatment interest, namely, disease-specific therapies (five papers), treatment of behavioral symptoms (four), long-term care (eight), 306 Book Reviews and future treatment directions (seven). In addition, the introductory chapter deals with the clinical diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease. TL· Animal Estate. The English and Other Creatures in the Victorian Age. By Harriet Ritvo. Cambridge and London: Harvard University Press, 1987. Pp. 347. $25.00. The author presents "a vivid picture of how animals figured in English thinking during the nineteenth century and, by extension, how they served as metaphors for human psychological needs and sociopolitical aspirations." The book combines rhetorical analysis with historical research to produce an unusual perspective on Victorian culture. Information about "people and organizations concerned with agricultural breeding, veterinary medicine, the world of pets, vivisection and other human causes, zoos, hunting at home and abroad, all revealing underlying assumptions and deeply held convictions—for example, about Britain 's imperial enterprise, social discipline, and the hierarchy of orders, in nature and human society." The Black Skimmer: Social Dynamics of a Colonial Specks. By Joanna Burger and Michael Gochfeld. New York: Columbia University Press, 1990. Pp. 355. $45.00. There has been increasing curiosity why animals form groups, and investigations have been intensifying to determine "the benefits and costs of colonial breeding in many different animals." Individual benefits include decreased time for predator detection and increasing opportunities for mate selection and predator defense. However, colonies "increase the potential for competition for mates, nest sites, and food and enhance the spread of disease and the likelihood of detection by predators." The authors have spent 15 years studying "the colonial dynamics, social behavior , and reproductive success of more than 30 black skimmer colonies." Black skimmers usually nest in mixed-species colonies with various species of terns on sandy beaches, salt marshes, and other habitats. These data should prove valuable in ensuring conservation of their habitats and their protection. TL· Dread Disease: Cancer and Modern American Culture. By James T...