By: J. Ben Hill, Lee O. Overholts, and Henry W. Popp
Published By: McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., New York and London, 1936
Book is in excellent condition - see pictures
Preface
The contents of this book comprise the subject matter of a two-semester college course in general botany, in which Part I is usually given during the first semester and Part II during the second. The two parts, however, are relatively independent and could be given in the reverse order. In mimeographed form, this book has been used for several years by the authors and by others in classes consisting of students in agriculture, the liberal arts, and the sciences. Though now published for the first time, it has already gone through several revisions, prompted by the experience of the authors and others in using it as a text and by changing emphasis in the teaching of botany.
The sequence of subjects is the one that has proved to be most suitable for classes beginning in autumn. In determining this sequence, the authors have taken into consideration not only the logical advantage of passing from the relatively simple to the more complex, but also the expediency of introducing a subject when living materials are available for its study. Nonetheless, the separate chapters have been written in such a way as to make it possible to adopt other sequences. Perhaps the most prominent departure from the sequence of other textbooks is the consideration of coloration in plants at the beginning. This has been done in recognition of the fact that color is one of the most conspicuous features of plants. It has been observed by everyone and immediately arouses interest. Furthermore, the display of colors in natural vegetation is most pronounced soon after classes begin in the autumn semester. A consideration of the cell, and then of the leaf and its physiology, logically follows. The root has been taken up before the stem because it is relatively a simpler structure than the latter. Cell division is discussed in the chapter on growth, not only because of its importance in growth but also because the student has acquired the necessary technique in the use of the microscope by the time the subject is treated. Throughout Part I, the physiology of an organ is considered in connection with its structure and morphology. Special emphasis has been given to physiology in general, but not at the expense of other phases of the general subject.
Continued on Page VI.................