"As the advertising stresses, C. elegans II is not a second edition. The chapters are more focused and comprehensive than those found in its predecessor [the 1988 monograph, The Nematode Caenorhabditis elegans]. Also, such is the growth of the field that many of the topics originally covered by single chapters are here subdivided into several chapters. For example, the material in the single chapter 'The Nervous System' in the worm book occupies six chapters in C. elegans II. Many new chapters have been included which deal with topics that were accorded only a few lines in the original, such as lifespan and ageing, nematode evolution and the relationship of C. elegans to parasitic nematodes. I was very impressed with the breadth of material covered and the way this was achieved without sacrificing attention to detail....

Who should read C. elegans II? Anyone who works in the field will find it invaluable as a single concise source of information. For the same reasons anyone teaching cell biology from an organismal perspective should find it very useful. In the preface, Bruce Alberts says 'We have come to realise in recent years that the basic molecules that make life possible are nearly the same in all cells.' As with all model systems, a great deal of what is learned from C. elegans is likely to be applicable to other organisms. Therefore, anyone with an interest in cell and developmental biology, regardless of their area of specialisation, would benefit from reading C. elegans II."

-Trends in Cell Biology