II.

Previewing

Before you start to play tennis, for example, you usually do

warming up, otherwise, you many have a lot of difficulties. This is a good
idea in reading. Look before you begin serious reading of a book (a non-
fiction book ). Then it is much easier to understand to what you do when
you preview.

The are several ways of previewing a non-fiction book

1. Examine the outside-front and back. (study title, illustration; read the
“blurbs” or comments on the jacket or cover; study the massages on the
end flaps, if any.)
2. Note the author’s name; read any biographical information about him
(What are his qualifications?)
3. Check the publisher’s name and the copyright date. (dates are of
almost importance in many areas of study. The book, if unrevised,
could be very outdated. Study the publishing history-number of copies;
dates of reprints, etc. This information normally is found on back of the
title page
4. Read the front matter-Introduction, Preface, Foreword, etc. (A quick
check of this information will give a good indication of what the writer
sets out to do in the book.)
5. Carefully look over the Table of Contents. (This is the skeletal outline
for the entire book. It will indicate the writer’s approach and general
treatment of the subject, the number of chapters and their approximate
leght and structure. It will also list back matter-Indexes,
Bibliographies, Glossaries, etc)
6. Thumb throught the book. (Stop briefly to note layout and typography.
Note any graphics-photographic inclusions, maps, diagrams, cartoons,
foldouts, etc)
7. If there is an overall Summary of Conclusion, read it carefully
8. Peruse Indexes, Bibliographies, or Glossaries if any are included
9. From the preview, evaluate the book’s value for your purpose. (If it
lackswhat you need or want, select another title and repeat this preview
process.)

At first, this may seem to be a lot of time consuming work and

effort. On the contrary, with little practice and experience, it will take a
few minutes of your time, a relative few minutes that could well be
among the most important of the total time spent studying and reading the
book.
1. Preview using titles and headings

a. Below is a list of the contents of several books, followed by the titles.

Read and match them

Titles
1. Principles of Urban Transport system planning
2. Electromagnetism : principles and applications
3. Plant Growth and development
4. Principles of Modern Chemistry
5. Living with Technology

Contents
a. Pressure and temperature of Gases
b. Education, skills and working life
c. Biosynthesis and Metabolism
d. How to give people access to all urban activities
e. Ampere’s circuit law

b. Read the following titles or headings and write down what think is the
Likely content of each book or article. When you have finished,
compare with your answers with partner or group

Titles Contents

1.The Nutrients Food ....................................................

......................................................

......................................................

2.Reading and thinking in English .......................................................

......................................................
......................................................

3.General Chemistry, Principal and .....................................................

Modern application ......................................................
.....................................................
4.An Introduction to Biology ....................................................
...................................................
...................................................

c. Which of the following books word would you consult if you were
studying the effects of new technology on comunity life? Consider
the subtitles as well as the main titles and headings. Give reasons
for your choices.

a. Lost generation
Unemployed youth
b. Computers for the workes
How do they affect you?
c. Studying abroad
Problems studying in other countries
d. Television
Several advantages of having television
e. New technology
Job content and grading

2. Previewing using illustrations

Illustrations can provide an indication as to the content of a book.

a. Look at the picture below and try to predict what the text is about.
what kind of text do you think it is?
b. Look at the diagrams below and try to predict what the text
accompanying
these diagrams is about. Give reasons for your answer.
3. Previewing using an introduction, table of contents, blurb, and
index of a book.

Read the following introduction, table of contents, blurb, and index

of a Book. Then, answer the questions.
 1. What is the book about?
2. Which parts would you look at in order to know what the book is a
about? Give reasons
3. What audience was the book written for?
4. Where can you find the information about the content and the
author?
5. Which part should you check if you want to know an unknown
term quickly?

Introduction to cell science

Cell were first described by Robert Hooke in 1665 when he used

his simple microscope to examine sections of cork. He used the term
‘cell’ to describe the small walled units which could be seen in plant
tissues: the biological significance of this discovery was, however, not
appreciated until some considerable time later. The wall itself was
considered to be the plant tissue while the existence and importance of
the cell contents were not realized. However, as microscopes and
preparative techniques improved during the next100 years or so, it
became possible to examine the contents of cell. Between 1831-33 Robert
Brown described a small, usually spherical, body which he called the
nucleus, as a regular feature of plant cells and, at about the same time
(1846). Mohl gave the name protoplasm to the thin mucilaginous layer
found inside the cell wall of living plant cells. Later the term cytoplasm
was used to denote the whole living material except for the nucleus. Still
later, about 1880, Schimper and Mayer are generally credited with the
discovery of the plastids, a heterogeneous group of cell organelles that
includes the chloroplasts. Thus by about 100 years ago the largest
structural elements of the plant cell (wall, cytoplasm-containing nucleus
and plastids, central vacuole ) had been desribed. These discoveries
resulted from developments in microscope construction and
improvements in preparative and staining techiques, in later sections of
this book we shall see further examples of the correlation between our
knowledge of cell biology and progress in the techniques for studying
cells.
At the same time the discoveries of cell structure were being made,
the important generalization known as the cell theory was emerging. This
is generally associated with the names of Schleiden and Schann who in
1838-39, were the first to bring together the ideas and discoveries of the
time into a generalized theory which stated that cells containing nuclei
are the fundamental units of structure for both plants and animals. Twenty
years later, in 1859. Virchow propounded the next important
generalization that cells arise only from the pre-existing cells by divison.
By 1866 Haeckel had realized that the nucleus was responsible for the
storage and transmission of hereditary characters.

Contents

Preface to the edition

vii
Preface to the second edition
ix
Abbreviations
x

1.Introductionto cell science

The plant cell Size, shape and structure Methods of studying cells
Microscopic techniques Cell fractionation

2.Themolecules of cells
Carbohydrates Lipids Nucleic acids Proteins Enzymes cofactors
Bionerrgetics

3. Cell membranes
Properties Chemical composition of cell membranes Membrane structure
Memberane biosynthesis Membrane transport

4. The nucleus
Structure of the nucleus Functions Replication of DNA and the
chromosomes Synthesis of RNA Control of gene expression

5. Ribosomes
Properties and structure of ribosomes Synthesis of ribosomes
Ribosomes and protein synthesis. The genetic code
Protein synthesis of 80S ribosomes from plants Polysomes
Protein synthesis and ribosomes in cell organelles

6. The soluble phase of the cell

Structure considerations Composition of the soluble phase
Glycolysis and gluconeogenesis Pentose phosphate pathway
Biosynthesis of fats B-carboxylation and pyruvate metabolism

7. The mitochondrion
Stucture Tricarboxylic acid cycle
The respiratory chain and oxidative phosphorylation Other matabolic
activities
Transport Processes in mitochondria Ontogeny

8. The chloroplast
Structure Light reactions and photophosphorylation
Reduction of carbon dioxide. C3 and C4 plants Nitrogen metabolism
Transport processes in chloroplasts Ontogeny

In this book the authors consider the biochemistry and physiology

of plant cells in ralation to cellular structure rather than using the familiar
guidelines of metabolic chemistry employed in many texts. They review
in detail the latest developments in our understanding of the structure
function of organelles and other cell inclusions as sites of metabolic
activity. In a number of instance the authors have placed our knowledge
of plant metabolism in terms of what is known about mammalian or
microbial systems, particularly in those subject areas where plant science
has lagged behind
For this new edition the next has beeb revised and updated
throughout. The first two chapters are essentially introductory. They
provide an outline of cell structure and cell chemistry and attempt to
familiarise the reader with some of the techniques used in cell science.
Sufficient background information on cell chemistry is given to anable
the non-specialist to read the book without the aid of other biochemical
texts. Membranes, which from the main basis for celular
compartmentation, are then discussed in detail. A new section is included
on membrane transport. The later chapters describe the metabolic and
structural properties of the various organelles, and whilst they can be read
out of context, the order has been arranged so the related topics are
grouped. New material on nitrogen metabolism is included in the chapter
on the chloroplast, while an expanded chapter descibes and compares the
functions of lysosomes and vacuoles. A completely new chapter deals
with protoplasts, which are now widely used in plant cell biology. The
metabolic and structural ralationships between organelles are always
stresses and cross-referencing is included whereever it is appropriate.
This new edition will ensure that the book remains an essential text
for under-graduate student of plant and biological sciences, and
postgradute students of palnt biochemistry and phisiology.

J L Hall is professor of Biology at the University of Southampton

T J Flowers is Lecturer in Plant Physiology at the University of Sussex
R M Roberts is Professor of Biochemistry at yhe University of Florida.

ISBN O 582 44408 X

Index