Developmental biology is seemingly well understood, with development
widely accepted as being a series of programmed changes through which an
egg turns into an adult organism, or a seed matures into a plant.
However, the picture is much more complex than that: is it all
genetically controlled or does environment have an influence? Is the
final adult stage the target of development and everything else just a
build-up to that point? Are developmental strategies the same in plants
as in animals? How do we consider development in single-celled
organisms? In this concise, engaging volume, Alessandro Minelli, a
leading developmental biologist, addresses these key questions. Using
familiar examples and easy-to-follow arguments, he offers fresh
alternatives to a number of preconceptions and stereotypes, awakening
the reader to the disparity of developmental phenomena across all main
branches of the tree of life.