The Algae : A Review

Contents: Preface. 1. General characteristics of the algae. 2. Phylum Chlorophyta. 3. Phylum Cyanophyta. 4. Phylum Chrysophyta. 5. Flagellated Phyla. 6. Phylum Phaeophyta. 7. Phylum Rhodophyta. 8. Ecology. 9. Physiology. 10. Economics. 11. Phylogeny and fossil algae. 12. Culturing of algae. Bibliography. Glossary. Index.

From the preface: "Pre-literate man no doubt was interested in and curious about algae, for then, as now, they were either a nuisance on the one hand or useful and edible on the other. References to algae can be found in ancient Chinese and, later, Greek literature. Theophrastus (300 B.C.), in his De Historia Plantarum is perhaps the first to declare that algae, fungi, and lichens are definitely plants, and that they are so diverse that "to give a general definition of a plant, and that in a few words, is not possible."

"Today, the algae have taken on added economic importance (as food, for commercial products, water contamination, toxin-production, sewage oxidation, etc.). Further, with the development of refined culture techniques and the electron microscope, physiologists and cytologists are employing algae more than ever as subjects of study for fundamental scientific information. The geneticist, limnologist, paleontologist, and plant evolutionist find investigations of algae to be both necessary and highly rewarding. One needs but to consider the current flood of literature dealing with the many aspects of algae (taxonomic, physiological, morphological, ontological) to gain an appreciation of the place that algae hold in human and scientific affairs.

This book has been prepared, then both for the specialist and especially for the beginning student, because of this burgeoning interest in algae. Hopefully, those who are learning to identify algae for one reason or another will find pertinent information in the pages that follow. Emphasis has also been given to the relationship between algae and water quality and conservation. Finally, the information on life histories and ecology, and their relationship to algal form and structure, should be of interest to the student of alga morphology."