There can be few people in the field of seed science who have not used and referred to Bewley and Black (1994) and its predecessors. The book has become the standard textbook for students and researchers alike and is widely acclaimed as a concise and readable, but comprehensive introduction to the physiology of seeds. The questions I therefore asked myself were: does this third edition maintain this standard, and is it worth buying, even though I have the first two editions available in our library for my students, research group and also myself? The answer was: yes it does, and I have already asked our library to buy copies.
The first obvious change from the second edition is that there are different authors and Michael Black is no longer a co-author. In his place are three co-authors, Kent Bradford, Henk Hilhorst and Hiro Nonogaki, who are well-known leading researchers in the seed science community and bring a wealth of complementary experience. Derek Bewley brings his unrivalled knowledge of seed physiology and provides continuity with earlier editions.
The third edition is slightly shorter, at 390 compared to 445 pages. Its structure is recognizable from the second edition, but with a significant change of emphasis to reflect the increase in our knowledge in the past 20 years or so, and to create a logical flow to the chapters that to my mind is better than the earlier editions. Since the previous edition there has been rapid development of new molecular-, cellular- and computer-based technologies that have greatly expanded our knowledge and understanding of seed biology. In particular, the authors point out the expansion in our knowledge of dormancy, which has led to its inclusion in the title. Additionally, there is a chapter on ‘Environmental regulation of dormancy and germination’ as well as the ‘Dormancy and control of germination’ chapter from earlier editions. There is also a welcome addition of a separate chapter on ‘Longevity, storage and deterioration’. These new chapters replace those on ‘Some ecological aspects’ and ‘Some agricultural and industrial aspects’ of the second edition.
This third edition has many figures and illustrations, which include a number of useful summarizing diagrams of our developing molecular understanding of seeds. The format of short reference lists at the end of each section used in earlier editions has been retained, but they have been updated and the references chosen have been well considered to provide an entry into the primary literature. This third edition brings home how much our understanding of seeds has expanded in the past 20 years. Nevertheless, I will keep my previous editions, as they are an accurate reflection of the insightful physiological research of the pre-omics era that now aids our understanding of gene × environment interactions, and so remain a useful resource.
Seed physiology is a huge and expanding topic and this is just one concise book; we will therefore all find some detail that is missing, but I see no reason to point out my own biased selection. The strength of the book is the accurate and considered overview it provides. My advice to anyone who has a new PhD student or postdoc unfamiliar with seeds and their physiology is to sit them down with this book and not let them start work until they have read it. The knowledge and understanding they will gain from this formidable foursome of authors will pay full dividends. The authors have drawn on their collective experience to not only summarize current literature but also interpret it. They have taken what was best in the previous editions and have rewritten it comprehensively to bring the information up to date in 2013.
