This book is a stunning compendium of the range of life forms found on our planet. Margulis and Schwartz describe it as "a catalog of the world's living diversity." It is a vividly descriptive assortment of selected examples from the Five Kingdoms of life formulated by R.H. Whittiker. The authors stress how much new knowledge, particularly in the study of unicellular life forms, has been gained in recent years. They explain how classification identifies organisms and show how modern techniques have led to the expansion of life's kingdoms from two to five. A description of prokaryotes and eucaryotes is given, followed by the body of 92 phyla descriptions. The book is arranged to be either studied as a reference or browsed as an introduction to biological forms. Each entry is carefully organized with the type of information [environment, measurement scales, diagrams] in a consistent location.

However, this is more than simply a collection of illustrative examples of various organisms. The most fascinating chapter relates the authors' proposal to modify one of the standard classifications of life - the Protoctists, replacing Whittiker's Protists. "The Kingdom Protoctista is defined by exclusion," they state. "Its members are neither animals, plants, fungi nor procaryotes." Their common characteristics are nucleated cells, some kind of flagellum and live in an oxygenated atmosphere [unlike many unicellular forms which cannot tolerate oxygen. Their argument contends that many multicellular forms are more
directly related to these unicellular forms than they are to other multi-celled organisms. The new classification "also solves the problem of blurred boundaries that arises if the unicellular organisms are assigned to the multicellular kingdoms." They list 27 phyla [of 36 total]with diagrams exhibiting a range of bizarre structures and life cycles.

Another noteworthy entry is Trichoplax adhaerens. Remember the name of this creature - "it is the simplest of animals." Composed of but a few thousand cells, it is a dull gray body just visible to the unaided eye. In looking at the photo and diagram of this creature invokes a sense of wonder - this is, after all, a distance relative living in the nearest aquarium with the shad.

This book is a delight to browse following one of the authors' intents. Their second purpose, using this book as a reference, is even more admirably met. Clear photographs coupled with excellent diagrams, including typical environments of the selected specimens, add visual support to a readable text base. Any reader interested in the way life is structured and seeking insights into evolutionary development would do well to consider this book. It's not an academic text, but conveys a wealth of meaningful information.

Although this is primarily intended to be an illustrated reference guide, it's a surprisingly fun one to thumb through. Part of that is the delight of looking at pictures and illustrations of some truly strange organisms (science fiction writers should really buy this book to see what genuinely alien creatures are like), but also due to the plethora of interesting facts.

I know that when I was reading through the section detailing the Animal phylla, I was struck by how many creatures -- entire phyllums -- get along without even rudimentary brains (or digestive systems, respiratory systems, circulatory systems, or even organs, altogether, in some cases). Likewise I was surprised to learn that only two phylla (including our own) ever developed winged flight.

The sections comprising the non-Animal kingdoms were of particular interest to me mainly for the simple reason that they invariably get little attention from most texts. At best, you'll usally find a chapter dealing with micro-organisms as a whole, and a brief chapter on plants. To see how much sheer diverity there is in just the Fungus kingdom is eye-opening.

I will note that the book does assume a basic level of biological literacy and that it sometimes throws jargon at the reader with little warning or explaination but, as a whole, this is a very accessible work and well worth having on one's shelf.

At first, a person like myself might seem somewhat hard to convince that all the 100's of thousands of species on the planet can be divided up into just five kingdoms or "Groups." However, by the half way mark I could not only see how this is true--more importantly I could understand--and agree with the author. What this truly gifted scientists has done is to "break down" the walls of convention and show people (even myself) how it all really worls. Lynn Margullis is the worthy sucessor to Charles Darwin. Period.

I purchased a copy of this book because I've been buying nearly all of Lynn Margulis's books in preparation for teaching a course. The description here was minimal, and I wanted to warn other potential buyers -- this is basically a coloring book. The weird thing is that the concepts and vocabulary are at a first-year college or advanced high school level. I can't imagine just who is supposed to use this book, sixth grade geniuses with crayons, or easily amused college freshmen? I suppose if you have a really bright grade school class you might want to give this book a try, but in my judgement it's not at the right level for anyone, anywhere.

DIVERSITY has surprising success in being all things (well almost all) to all people. It's about equally divided between fact-packed technical writing, full of Latin names, and line drawings of them. The intro is convincingly authoritative. And TEN pages of further resources are provided.

At first, I thought this is not a book for me, a novice, But Latin names are coupled with common ones. The fifty-page glossary is nicely written in everyday language. And the line drawings are tantalising. I am invited to color the drawings!

The cover shows the beauty of color and design that the authors contemplate. Spiral binding lies flat for coloring. I wonder what medium works best. Colored pencils? How would the paper take to water color or acryllic? The authors urge me to photocopy the drawings. I might enlarge one, use good art paper and create something worth framing!

There's no clue as to what colors are right. Shall I create my own color scheme, or go to the zoo or a swamp for real-life colors? I think fantasy will be more fun.

DIVERSITY does assume some knowledge of biology. I'd call it an expansion of knowledge for those who like knowledge for its own sake, and certainly a well-organized reference book. It could also work as a student-friendly text for a sophisticated high school or beginning college level classroom.

Just learning that there are five kingdoms staggered me because I studied biology before 1960, when there were just two. The animal Kigdom is now "animalia" and the vegetable kingdom is now "plantae." Modern biologists distinguish bacteria and fungi as numbers three and four. The fifth is really unnerving: something called Protoctista -- very close to the medical words that start out Procto --.

This adds up to more diversity of life than I've ever thought about.

On page 21 I find the first creative drawing/learning project: two cows in a field. One has its digestive tract outlined, with magnified drawings of six kinds of bacteria that populate its gut. Further along I find a pretty little drawing of the notorious E. coli. schematically resident in a fisherman's stomach. What wonderful colors shall I choose?

I think I shall use DIVERSITY as my Field Guide to the Minuscule as I color with my grandchildren. And somewhere I will find out what a Proctoct-- really is.