Agricultural Systems 8 (1982) 241 248

B O O K R E V I E W S

Hurd, R. G., Biscoe, P. V. and Dennis, C. (Editors). OpportunitiesJor Increasing Crop Yields. Association of Applied Biologists, Pitman Publishing Co. Ltd., London, 1980, 410pp. Price: £16.00 (hard cover).

The 75th Anniversary Meeting of the Association of Applied Biologists, held at Reading University, Great Britain, in September, 1979, had the overall title of 'Advances in Crop Production and Protection'. This volume presents a selection of the contributions to that overall theme, centred on those of the plant physiology group. The papers are arranged in five sections, concerned with plant physiology in relation to breeding, nutritional and environmental aspects of crop production, cultural and technological factors, weed control and post-harvest physiology.

The organisers and editors of this volume were obviously concerned with the need to effect some kind of synthesis of knowledge of crop production as a whole, across the boundaries of the disciplinary groups which constitute the working structure of the AAB. To the extent that they assembled the necessary multi-disciplinary mix, ranging from scientific specialists to a cereal-grower and the Chief Agricultural Officer of the UK Agricultural Advisory Service, they may be said to have set up the right sort of framework to meet that objective. But there is disappointingly little evidence in the published account that this resulted in a productive dialogue between the disparate elements of the group. With some honourable exceptions, such as the lucid and practical reflections of the cereal-grower (R. G. Dawson) and Professor Bunting's attempt to widen the discussion of mixed cropping beyond the rather specialised application of competition models, there are few attempts at a practical, working synthesis of whole crop production systems. The components are there and there is an evident general desire to get down to brass tacks and start assembling those components to solve practical production problems; but, somehow, that is as far as it goes.

241 Agricultural Systems 0308-521 X/82/0008-0241/$02.75 ~ Applied Science Publishers Ltd, England, 1982 Printed in Great Britain

242 BOOK REVIEWS

Compared with a decade ago, there are reassuring signs in a number of the papers that quantitative analysis and modelling are now accepted as valuable tools in applied biology. As yet, however, the applications of these techniques are more concerned with limited aspects of crop behaviour within the traditional disciplinary boundaries than with an overall synthesis of knowledge of practical production systems. Certainly there is scope for these intra-disciplinary beginnings to develop in due course into the whole-system studies required to harness the results of research in a really effective way, across the subject boundaries. Since this book is planned as the first of a continuing series and since there appears to be a genuine desire to move towards an overall synthesis, one may hope for continuing progress in that direction.

Meanwhile, despite this tantalising failure to go as far or as fast as the production systems man would like, this is a book that all those concerned with the science and practice of crop production will want to read and digest for its authoritative summaries of a wide variety of the contributory disciplines.

N. R. BROCKINGTON

Manning, W. J. and Feder, W. A., Biomonitoring Air Pollutants with Plants, Applied Science Publishers Ltd., London, x + 14pp. 1980. £12.00.

This book documents the current 'state-of-the-art' of using plants as indicators and/or monitors of air pollution, the authors having taken care to distinguish clearly between the qualitative aspects of 'indicating' and the quantitative aspects of 'monitoring'. The book is divided into nine chapters: the first three serve as an introduction to air pollution, to symptoms of air pollution damage and to the concept of using plants as indicators and monitors of air quality; the next five are dedicated to techniques of biomonitoring photochemical oxidants, sulphur dioxide, fluorides, heavy metals and particulates, and ethylene; the last chapter purports to be forward-looking but in reality represents naught but a brief summary of the preceding five. The book is very well--nay, comprehensively--researched, but could benefit from several alterations in presentation. Part of the problem with the presentation seems to derive from the apparent confusion or uncertainty of the authors as to the level of sophistication of their intended audience. In consequence, Chapter 1, the introductory chapter, begins very simply with the basics such as the composition of air, some elementary meteorology and a brief discussion of how the composition of our atmosphere has changed--and continues to change. The major and minor air pollutants likely to affect plant ecosystems are conveniently tabulated. After four-and-a-half pages of basics, one is thrown directly into a combustion furnace--like some Polynesian virgin sacrificed to a volcano, except that furnaces produce much more SO 2 and NOx. The discussion on combustion is very confusing as one is presented with a series of reactions between C and O and the