Dear Andrew (and others),

At the risk of starting a war of words, I ask you to specify (on this list,
because many of us have this work) your unsubstantiated statement regarding
'the Southern synthesis'. Knowing many of it's contributors, and having
seen them work on the volumes I cannot offer anything but praise for their
magnificent work.

Most of the information included in these books is not published there for
the first time, but rather, the work is a collation of knowledge about the
families of mollusca known from Australia (but including knowledge not
limited to Australia). That is what makes it so valuable.

If a book collates available information, how can it be questionable? I
accept that some people may not agree with some of the taxonomic placings
as published in the series, but we must recognise taxonomy as a highly
subjective science, and nobody will ever agree with everything published in
such a work. Still, disagreement does not make a work questionable

Please elaborate on your statement with facts

Patty