Essential Plant Pathology

"This introduction textbook for education of students is a very remarkable one. It gives an introduction not only as the title shows into essential parts of the Plant Pathology but by the present second edition with the added incorporated DVD an excellent material to learn and to teach all scientific and practical fundamentals of the named area.
 
A particularity of this textbook is the style of writing and the kind of demonstration all elements, which induce a real motivation to study and help to understand the special matter, instead only to read about. Headings of each main- and sub-chapter are formulated as question and so it comes out always a kind of looking for the text as answer. Corresponding the text general is written precisely with concentrated summaries to determine important points. On pages of each chapter the text is arranged in an inner column, escorted by an outer one containing illustrations, images, summary boxes, and short summaries of important diseases for type studies.

A second quality mark of the textbook is the excellent illustration of described organisms, things and facts, phenomena and processes in frame of the plant pathology, by photographs, drawings and diagrams. This does increase the understandability of the matter remarkably.

Last not least the great value of the publication is substantiated by the added, incorporated new DVD. Combined with the text it gives further detailed illustrations, guidelines for lab exercises, special topics, disease classic lists, example diseases, rapid essays for pathogens and above all an opening to web resources, related literature, instructions for teachers and instructors. Therefore, this textbook is bound internationally.
 
So the present excellent textbook can be highly recommended for students, who are starting to study the Phytomedicine for later graduation. They and their instructors get an optimal help for an introduction and a motivation for further detailed studies of this discipline.

Secondly, the style of writing, the structure of the book and the kind of material presentations give a guarantee for high quality and effective learning and teaching and so the complete textbook can be emphasized too as interesting example for future authors of related publications."

 –  Dr. Theo Wetzel, Archives of Phytopathology & Plant Protection
 

"Mycologists, plant pathologists, and serious home gardeners take note: the second edition of Essential Plant Pathology has just been published and is now available. You cannot imagine how useful this book is. Or how much more user-friendly this book is over what is currently the standard in introductory plant-pathology texts. Like most plant-pathology students of my day and before, we grew up with Agrios's book. It was the gold standard. But in so many ways, I think Schumann and D'Arcy's new book is better especially for beginning students, amateur mycologists, and home gardeners. Although quite a few plant pathogens are bacterial, viral, nematode, or of other origins, the vast majority are fungal in nature, and with very interesting life cycles. Unfortunately, mycological texts cover few of these in detail and field guides barely mention any plant pathogens at all. Essential Plant Pathology will nicely fill a long overdue void on your bookshelf.

Many of the early chapters have, as a theme, "What Are the Causes of Plant Diseases?" and discuss a particular group (e.g. Fungi, Bacteria, Parasitic Plants, etc.). Essential Plant Pathology is beautifully laid out with full color on every page and is heavily illustrated (290 images!). As if that weren't enough, the book accompanied with a DVD filled with more than 400 high resolution color images and line drawings. Besides the usefulness of examining them in detail on your computer, the images can be quickly dropped into text files or a digital slide presentation In fact, the DVD works with the popular APSnet Education Center and provides an engaging way to learn (and teach) plant pathology.

Important terms and concepts are very clearly explained. Special "Did you know?" boxes will spark interest by providing cultural and historical facts about plant diseases; and every chapter guides the reader to recommended resources, study questions, "Words to Know," internet research exercises, and DVD exercises. Probably my favorite aspect of each chapter are callout boxes featuring "Disease Classics" that provide short summaries of important diseases (most of them fungal in nature) typically studied in introductory plant pathology courses. Many of these plant pathogens have altered the course of mankind, e.g. coffee rust, which turned the British from coffee fanatics to tea drinkers, and late blight disease of potatoes, which caused wide spread famine in Ireland and throughout Europe. Essential Plant Pathology is quite up to date, as well, examining recently discovered diseases like citrus canker, sudden oak death, and soybean rust. Likewise, the latest techniques for disease diagnosis and pathogen detection (ELISA, PCR, DNA sequencing, computerized environmental monitoring equipment, etc.) in modern laboratories are discussed in very easy to understand terms.

Award-winning educators and plant pathologists Gail L.Schumann and Cleora D'Arcy are superbly suited to write an introductory level text on the topic. Schumann received her M.S. and Ph.D. in Plant Pathology from Cornell University and is Professor Emerita at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, where she taught several plant pathology courses and was a well-known researcher in turfgrass pathology. She is the author of textbooks and more than 50 peer-reviewed publications on teaching and turfgrass pathology. The U. S. Department of Agriculture and American Phytopathological Society, among others, have awarded her for her excellence in teaching. Cleora J. D'Arcy received her M.S. and Ph.D. in Plant Pathology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison; she is Professor Emerita in the Department of Crop Sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. D'Arcy teaches undergraduate and graduate courses on plant pathology and professionalism and ethics, and researches virus diseases of plants. Besides books on plant pathology, she has written over 75 peer-reviewed publications on plant virology and teaching. She is a past president of the American Phytopathological Society and has been honored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and American Phytopathological Society, among others, for her excellence in teaching."

–  Britt Bunyard, FUNGI Magazine
 

"This is quite simply an excellent book! Bizarrely, this statement in itself fails to do it justice, as this is considerably more than just a book. The CD-ROM tucked in the back cover allows the reader to explore in greater depth case studies, gives access to countless images, tests your understanding of the main topics and provides hotlinks to relevant websites [...] I have no hesitation in recommending it."
– Microbiology Today
 
"I strongly recommend this book to the attention of plant protection specialists, university professors and students, and to all agricultural libraries [...] . provides practical advice for the home gardeners as well as teaching how to diagnose what is wrong with an unhealthy plant and how to prevent plant disease. The excellent glossary and index make this book an extremely useful source of information for researchers, university students, and extension workers."
– Journal of Plant Protection Research