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Introduction to Plant Physiology | 
 enlarge | Author: William G. Hopkins
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Category: Book
List Price: $117.90
Buy New: $17.92
You Save: $99.98 (85%)
New (2) Used (8) from $4.37
Avg. Customer Rating:  5 reviews
Sales Rank: 1042892
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 2nd
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 512
Shipping Weight (lbs): 3.1
Dimensions (in): 11.3 x 8.8 x 0.8
ISBN: 0471192813
Dewey Decimal Number: 571.2
EAN: 9780471192817
ASIN: 0471192813
Publication Date: August 1998
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: absolutely brand new, hardcover, same as amazon listed, in stock, will ship immediately with usps tracking
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Product Description
Uses interactions between the plant and the environments as a foundation for developing plant physiology principles-light and plant development, temperature effects, etc. Discusses the role of plants on specific ecosystems and global ecology and provides information on the cell, chemical background, plant growth regulators and biochemistry. This revised edition features a new chapter on Molecules and Metabolism and expanded coverage in areas such as the role of carotenoids, biotechnology and significance of the role of molecular genetic approaches to the study of hormone action, photoperiodism, and other aspects of development.
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| Customer Reviews:
cheaply done - numerous errors compromise its usefulness - go with Taiz & Zeiger February 26, 2006
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
I cannot recommend this textbook. Its basic premise is misguided. It seems to be aiming squarely between the level of presentation in a basic botany course and a true plant physiology course. This is not an advisable half-step -- it winds up being nothing more than a protracted review of basic botany, not the opening up of a new field of study.
Its flawed premise aside, the usefulness of this book on any level is compromised by its errors. Factual errors abound -- these aren't just matters of scientific dispute, they're flat-out errors in fact. For example, the overview of the C4 syndrome consistently shows that they phosphorylation of pyruvate to PEP produces ATP, when in fact it consumes ATP. (Furthermore, it insists that 2 ATP are involved, which is supported neither by the stoichiometry nor other sources I consulted.) The stromal hexose-P pool in the diagram for the PCR (Calvin) cycle is misplaced. The table showing the stoichiometry for the same cycle is an unhelpful oversimplification -- showing only the Rubisco and carbon dioxide and ignoring the inputs and outputs of water, phosphates, electron acceptors, and hydronium ion. The diagram for the citric acid cycle does not reflect the inputs of water, which is not only confusing, it is also misleading about the basic requirements for the physiological process of respiration. The diagram for a stoma and guard cells is inadequately labeled when viewed alongside the text, and detailed examples of the less well-known graminoid stomata are absent.
The function of enzymes is all-important in this subject, and this book only mentions them in the text proper, never including them in the diagrams and tables. For example, if took a dedicated search to find the fleeting mention in the text of the important role of malic enzyme in C4 and CAM photosynthesis. In order to get through this book, I had to cross-reference continuously with Taiz and Zeiger's better book on Plant Physiology, and the book on basic botany by Raven, Evert, and Eichhorn.
Taiz and Zeiger do a far better job all around. Enzymes are consistently presented -- right alongside the reactions -- in tables summarizing physiological processes. For most processes, the Lewis diagrams of the chemicals involved are usually presented -- this is a form of illustration that can help in understanding the processes, serve as a gentle prod in recalling one's organic chemistry. So even if the level of instruction doesn't require memorizing formulas or structures, these diagrams help in learning the material. If you are even a mildly inquisitive reader you're going to be continuously puzzled by the Hopkins book, unless you have other sources to consult.
The book is 100 pages shorter and 10 bucks more expensive than Taiz and Zeiger. T&Z are now in its third edition and using full-color, whereas Hopkins is only 2-color. Furthermore, T&Z have a nice web site, and this book has no ancillary material available. I read that their editor for the ancillar materials bagged out at the last minute, so the publishers were obviously cheapskates and didn't see to it that the job got done.
Taiz and Zeiger, however, are between editions -- the 4th edition is due out in June 2006. So you may want to hold off and get that. The 3rd edition of T&Z can be had for about $50, and the 2nd edition of 1998 (2 color) for $25. The 2nd edition is great, but the many advances made since 1998 are obviously not reflected.
 a bad textbook to learn plant phys November 29, 2005
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
This is an introductory book, so I do not expect it to go in-depth in each area. There are many typos in this book though, like a lot of page numbers in the index are not correct. Also, the book goes in an odd order, and a lot of things explained later in the book wouldv'e made it easier to understand some of the earlier things easier. a lot of newer concepts are left out too, or vaguely mentioned, like electric currents in plants. My professor often has to use graphs and charts from other books because the ones from the book are too complicated or hard to understand, such as the Z-scheme, the Q cycle, and the PCR cycle to name a few. I would not recommend this book as an introductory textbook.
 introduction of plant physiology April 6, 2004
2 out of 6 found this review helpful
1.Why IBA biosynthetic doesn't appear inside this book?
2.Does IBA biosynthetic discovered yet?
I think it would be better if IBA biosinthetic can be described in this book.
I'm waiting your answer
thank you very much Semarang Indonesia
rudi
Terrible reading November 9, 1999
3 out of 8 found this review helpful
You can understand the basic principles of this book, but that's about it. The in-depth explanation makes you want to learn about something else.
the book in general February 23, 1998
4 out of 10 found this review helpful
I thought that this book contained a lot of information on this subject, however this information is useless in the way it is presented. Hopkins, must have been the type of person to sit in a dark room by himself with no one around, reading botany books, because he certainly doesn't know how to relate to other people in presenting this subject.
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