The first part of the book deals with activities in biotechnological research and manufacturing. There is a list of activities, then a list of companies and organisations by activity. Further details of these are provided country by country. Address, phone, fax, contact name and brief outline of activities are provided. This format is repeated for products, equipment and services. Shorter sections give country lists of Associations and Institutions, grant giving bodies, and regulatory and government sources. There are two indexes. The first gives US organisations by State, and the second is the complete index. The US index is justified because the book is also published by Stockton Press of New York, and because of the size of the US biotechnology industry. This list also provides something I have often wanted, but have yet to find in a British general reference book, the two letter codes of all the States. The other bit that reference librarians will find particularly useful is the French and German equivalents of over 600 biotechnology terms.
There are a few full page colour advertisements on the section divides and a few logos in the products and services section. Otherwise this directory is solid information. Any organisation involved in biotechnology has probably bought a copy already, but as more and more companies engage in biotechnological research and production, and as more products are produced by biotechnology there must be an ever expanding market, so this brief review is justified.
