Biodiversity in India: Floristic Aspects

O.A. Korshikov was an observer of outstanding ability, often detecting or discovering features which all or the majority of phycologists had missed. The present book represented a major advance in our knowledge of this group of algae. He finished the book sometimes before 1942 when, according to my information, he was killed. That he did not see it through the proof stage seems clear from the introductory remarks of the Editorial Board. Certain deficiencies in the text support this view or are a sign that he hurried to complete the manuscript in case the Ukraine was overrun. The Editorial Board scrupulously did not alter or add to his text (e.g. the absence of descriptions for many of the figures). Those who are familiar with the algal groups concerned will realise the debt we owe to Korshikov whose book would have been so far ahead of its time, had the war and its aftermath not caused a delay of some 10 years in its publication. Even with this long and unavoidable delay his book has had a profound influence on work on these algae. The late Mr. W. Tylka made a translation for the Freshwater Biological Association. It was not possible to offer it for publication because Mr. Tylka‘s English was not good at that time and he had no knowledge of scientific terminology. This latter shortcoming, however, could be rectified to some extent without any danger of mistranslation. When the present version was begun, it became clear that there were also errors, inexactitudes and omissions in the original translation and that a new translation was necessary.