Ciliates are protozoa with a complicated biology and complex internal structure that have fascinated their observers since the middle of the last century. Although scientists have studied them with diligence and pleasure over the decades, an answer to one question opens new fields of research with dozens of new questions.

As new hypotheses to explain biological processes are formulated and new techniques are perfected, the ubiquitous presence of ciliates and their ease of cultivation have won new converts from genetics, cell biology, ecology, molecular biology, and other specialists who are searching for a convenient organism to test their hypotheses and techniques. For these scientists as well as general biologists, graduate students beginning their careers, and those protozoologists already charmed by ciliates, this compilation of the current state of knowledge of ciliates will be exciting reading. Modern ultrastructural and molecular techniques offer insights on cytology, metabolism, and genetics of ciliates that have stimulated new conclusions about ontogenesis, sexuality, ecology, and systematics.

The contributions of specialists from all over the world have resulted in this beautifully illustrated treatise on these extraordinary cells as organisms.