| Ch. 1 | Developmental biology : the anatomical tradition | 3 |
| Ch. 2 | Life cycles and the evolution of developmental patterns | 25 |
| Ch. 3 | Principles of experimental embryology | 49 |
| Ch. 4 | The genetic core of development | 77 |
| Ch. 5 | The paradigm of differential gene expression | 101 |
| Ch. 6 | Cell-cell communication in development | 139 |
| Ch. 7 | Fertilization : beginning a new organism | 175 |
| Ch. 8 | Early development in selected invertebrates | 211 |
| Ch. 9 | The genetics of axis specification in Drosophila | 253 |
| Ch. 10 | Early development and axis formation in amphibians | 291 |
| Ch. 11 | The early development of vertebrates : fish, birds, and mammals | 325 |
| Ch. 12 | The emergence of the ectoderm : central nervous system and epidermis | 373 |
| Ch. 13 | Neural crest cells and axonal specificity | 407 |
| Ch. 14 | Paraxial and intermediate mesoderm | 443 |
| Ch. 15 | Lateral plate mesoderm and endoderm | 471 |
| Ch. 16 | Development of the tetrapod limb | 505 |
| Ch. 17 | Sex determination | 529 |
| Ch. 18 | Postembryonic development : metamorphosis, regeneration, and aging | 555 |
| Ch. 19 | The saga of the germ line | 593 |
| Ch. 20 | An overview of plant development | 627 |
| Ch. 21 | Medical implications of developmental biology | 655 |
| Ch. 22 | Environmental regulation of animal development | 693 |
| Ch. 23 | Developmental mechanisms of evolutionary change | 721 |