This volume provides a lucid state-of-the-art tour of the critical signaling roles calcium plays in both the normal and carcinogenic cell cycles of proliferation, differentiation, and death. Whitfield and Chakravarthy (Institute for Biological Sciences, National Research Council of Canada, Ottawa) commence their discussion with the intriguing comment that no revolution has had as much an impact on Earth as the Great Calcium-Driven Eukaryotic Revolution occurring soon after the planet's birth. The final chapter explains how calcium also drives responsiveness in plants. Includes exceptionally well-referenced chapters, crisp color graphics, and a bilingual French-English abstract. Annotation copyrighted by Book News Inc., Portland, OR.