Review : Lively planet

Wilson McCord’s Biology for Beginners (Writers and Readers,
£6.99/$11, ISBN 0 86316 194 4) has not caught up with the modern
division of life forms into eubacteria, archaea and eukaryotes. Otherwise this
richly and amusingly illustrated handbook is a friendly guide to the fabric of
life on Earth, continuously informed by historical insights into how we acquired
this knowledge.