edited by Lincoln H Schmitt (The University of Western Australia) & Leonard Freedman (The University of Western Australia)

This volume takes its subtitle from the theme of the ASHB meeting for 1994 “Genes, Ethnicity and Ageing”. The first paper is the annual conference lecture as delivered by the Honourable Fred Chaney, formerly Minister for Aboriginal Affairs in the Federal Government of Australia. It considers some of the difficulties in delivering government services to indigenous peoples. Jim Chisholm puts an evolutionary perspective on some aspects of human behaviour, life history and Darwinian approaches to medicine. Carol Bower reviews the value of the Western Australian Birth Defects Registry and the contributions of registries to improved health care. Alexandra Brewis and Gokarna Regmi document determinants of fertility in a Pacific Island population. There are two papers from a special symposium on Ageing and the Aged held within the meeting: George Broe and Helen Creasey consider some of the social issues associated with an ageing society, and Alan Hipkiss and colleagues take a biochemist's look at possibilities for extending the human life cycle.

There are two additional papers. One by Alan Bittles documents consanguinity in the Middle East. The second, by Tsunehiko Hanihara and Hajime Ishida describes the results of their studies of Australian Aboriginals and neighbouring populations.

“Understanding Ageing”, by Robin Holliday, Cambridge University Press is reviewed by Anne Mitchell.

• Aboriginal Survival Across Incompatible Domains (F Chaney)
• Life History Theory and Life Style Choice: Implications for Darwinian Medicine (J S Chisholm)
• The Value of a Birth Defects Registry: The Western Australian Experience (C Bower)
• Post Partum Amenorrhoea Differentials and Patterning in a Rural Pacific Island Population (A A Brewis & G Regmi)
• Brain Ageing and Neurodegenerative Diseases: A Major Public Health Issue of the Twenty-First Century (G A Broe & H Creasey)
• Strategies for Extension of Human Life Span (A R Hipkiss et al.)
• When Cousins Marry: A Review of Consanguinity in the Middle East (A H Bittles)
• Evolutionary Significance of Facial Flatness in Australian Aborigines and Neighbouring Populations (T Hanihara & H Ishida)