Drs. James Hanken and Marvalee Wake propose a half-day symposium at the centennial meeting of the American Society of Zoologists (ASZ) in Boston in December, 1989. The theme of the symposium will be "Experimental Approaches to the Analysis of Form and Function." Two speakers each will address the impact of experimental approaches at the developmental, functional, ecological and evolutionary levels of organization. The specific aims of the symposium are to evaluate the utility of the experimental approach by illustrating the kinds of insights that can be gained, as well as the limitations faced in experimental functional analyses. A Proceedings volume will be published Technological advances in imaging, microsensors and microsurgery, and the resolution of early developmental features have rejuvenated the discipline of functional analysis. These novel sources of data will shed new light on ecological, physiological, and evolutionary issues. The proposed symposium will find a diverse and interested audience at the annual meeting of ASZ.
