.4nm. B&v., 1979, 27, 318-321

BOOK REVIEWS

The Dog: Its Domestication amd Behavior. By MICHAEL W. Fox. New York: Garland STPM Press (1978). 296 pp. $24.50.

Hidden within this book one can find a few im K

ortant and dearly presented points that relate to the be aviour and domestication of the dog (Canis fnmiliaris). It is possible that Fox discusses other important points; if so, these are hopelessly lost in the confusion created by poor grammar, poor sentence construction, contradictions, lack of definitions, and jumbled organization that typify this book. Anyone choosing to read this book will be faced with a challenge to understand what the author has presented and why he has presented it.

The body of the book is arranged into 11 chapters, an introduction, a postscript, and three appendices. In the introduction the reader is orovided with some back- ground information on Fox’s&past research. Chapter I is a review of the effects of domestication on animals.

The subject matter of chapters II to X ranges from behaviour and ecology of wild canids, through behaviour and conjectural genetics of coyote- x-dog hybrids, to behaviour of domestic dogs and ecology of feral dogs. These chapters are written as if they were independent journal articles and are of consistently poor quality. Extent for chanter IX, which is a review article, these chapiers discuss work that has been done in Fox’s laboratory. Some material presented is new but much has already been published by Fox elsewhere. The author states as much in the introduction to chapter V. Also. had Fox used statistical analyses on his data he would have avoided making conclusions not supported by his data (e.g. Chapter III, table I).

Chapter XI, the concluding chapter, discusses ‘man- dog relationships’ and possible origins of the domestic dog. The latter is possibly the most interesting part of the hook. Fox comes to the conclusion that the domestic dog has its origin in a distinct species that was closely related to the wolf but is now extinct in its wild form. 1 found this a very interesting conclusion but was dis- appointed that Fox’s line of argument had so many flaws.

The Dog: Its Domestication and Behaviour has three categories of major problems that could have been avoided by proper editing. First, poor grammar, poor sentence construction, and incomplete sentences are inexcusable in any book, as are sentences whose subjects and verbs do not agree and sentences whose verbs are of the incorrect tense. Second., the numbering system for figures and tables is confusmg, many tables have no captions (e.g. chapter I tables I, II, and III; chapter VI tables II, III, and VII), a figure is not cited in the text (chapter II figure 3), and one table that does not exist is cited (chapter II table I). Third, there are frequent repetitions and duplications within and between chapters. In addition to these problems, there are many typo- graphical errors (e.g. p. 46 figure caption, p. 49 figure caption, p. 108 line 1, p. 115 line 12).

The subject of this book is of interest to biologists and to dog lovers of any occupation. It is unfortunate that, with such potentially broad appeal, the book has so many flaws. I cannot recommend it to anyone.

ROGER A. Pow%1 i Dept. oj’ Ecology, Ethology rrnd Evr4!rtion University of Illinois, [Jrbana, Ii1inoi.r 61801.

R. A. Fisher: The Life of a Scientist. By JOAN FISHER Box. New York: Wiley (1978). Pp. 512. $25.00.

Sir Ronald Fisher was one of the most creative scientists in the first half of the twentieth century. Students of animal behaviour repeatedly encounter his work both in statistics and in genetics and evolution. It is difficult to believe that the Gan who wrote The Genetical Theory of Natural Selection, one of the cornerstones of modern evolutionary theory, is the same person who introduced into statistics the concepts of maximum likelihood estimation and sufficient statistics: invented the analvsis of variance, the F test, and the .z transformation; i&o- duced degrees of freedom for use in Chi-square tests, randomization for experimental design; and much more.

The development of Fisher’s ideas in mathematical statistics, biometry and related fields: his back-to-nature life style; his devotion to eugenics; his work on human blood groups; his feuds with Neyman, Karl and Egon Pearson,. Gosset, and others; his collaborations with many scientists-all are described by his daughter, Joan, drawing on her own recollections and those of Fisher’s many friends and colleagues. The result is a fascinating portrait of a supremely individualistic and brilliant man whose vigorous life was guided wholly by the truth as he conceived it. Highly recommended.

Department of Biology, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637.

STUART ALTMATW

Habituation: Perspectives from Child Development, Animal Behaviour and Neurophysioiogy. Edited by THOMAS J. TICHE & ROBERT N. LEATON. New York: John Wiley. Pp. xi + 356. Price E15.00.

This book contains reviews of the work of various groups represented at a conference which brought to- gether researchers in the fields of child development, animal behaviour and neurophysiology. Studies of development in infants predominate. Five chapters being chiefly concerned with such research as against two for the behaviour of other animals and two for neuro- physiology. The book includes important findings and ideas about habituation together with examples of the contribution studies using habituation have made to investigations of more complex behavioural processes. A good overview by the editors. T. J. Tighe and R. N. Leaton, forms the last chapter. -

The chapters based on neurophysiological work are the most directly relevant to habituation. The work of E. Kandel and associates on the mechanism of habituation of a withdrawal reflex in Aplysia is well presented in the opening chapter. This work has provided the closest approach that has yet been made to obtaining an adequate description of what happens at the neuronal level during learning. Clearly set out in the second chapter is perhaps the major contribution of R. F. Thompson and his collaborators: the development of a defining set of criteria for habituation. The introduction to R. F. Thompson 91 D. L. Clanzman’s chapter provides an excellent back- gound to studies of habituation from the neurophysio- logical side. The introduction to the chaoter bv W. E Jeifrey performs an equivalent function fro-m the hevelop- mental side. At the behavioural and developmental IeveI. to those whose prime interest is in the phenomenon of habituation itself, a number of the contributions ma\’