Development of the Nervous System

Rating:
Summary: Decent content, but needs editing and is slightly confusing
Review: "Development of the Nervous System" is a textbook which appears to be an introductory text to the field. The textbook is supposed to be appropriate for undergraduates, however, as a biology graduate student with some previous exposure to neurobiology, I had some difficulties with the text because of some of the reasons mentioned below.

It was difficult not to be distracted by the numerous grammatical and spelling errors. There were so many of them (for example, 'roll' when the authors meant 'role' and 'spacial' instead of 'spatial'), I wondered if the text were ever edited.

Even without the mistakes in English, the textbook suffers from other flaws. One major problem is that the authors do not bother to explain basic terms or concepts before using them when describing experiments. For example, the authors never define the difference between 'afferent' and 'efferent' neuronal projections, but refer to the terms profusely. Ironically, one of the most common grammatical errors in the textbook was the use of 'effect' when the authors meant 'affect.'

A colleague of mine who borrowed the book from me remarked that the index was not very useful; I also noticed some mistakes in the index.

Having said that, one of the major strengths of the text is the organization of the chapters, which proceed logically from the earliest neural induction events to the behavior of a whole organism. The introductory paragraphs of each chapter are also well written; they relate the topics to something that should be tangible to everyone.

Another major strength is the introduction of concepts by discussing the experiments behind them. Importantly, the text describes experiments from many different model organisms and using a variety of techniques. Abundant figures accompany the text and sufficiently illustrate concepts and experiments.

The content of the textbook is decent, but to be more useful (especially as an introductory text), this textbook would benefit from:

1) editing for English
2) an improved, more thorough and accurate index
3) a glossary or definitions and explanations within the text
4) and perhaps side "boxes" explaining some of the experimental techniques discussed.

Rating:
Summary: Good Book
Review: This is an upper division text. The detail is clearly described and it even has well drawn out charts. If you are studying neuroscience or just interested in leaning about the embryonic development of the brain this is a good book.