Book of beasts

Call yourself a biologist? Time was when a degree in the field meant you
actually got to study whole organisms. Nowadays, of course, it’s all genes and
molecules. More’s the pity. Come back to earth with The Diversity of Living
Organisms, edited by R. S. K. Barnes, a beautifully illustrated compendium of
life. Published by Blackwell, £19.50, ISBN 0632049170.