Development and Reproduction: An Introduction -- Stages and Principles of Animal Development Terms of Developmental Biology -- The Start: Fertilization, Activation of the Egg and a First Series of Cell Divisions (Cleavage) -- Model Organisms in Developmental Biology I: Invertebrates -- Development of Important Model Species II: Vertebrates -- The Human -- In Preparation for New Life I: Sex Determination and Sexual Development -- In Preparation for New Life II: Gametogenesis: The Development of Egg Cells and Sperm and Their Provision with Heritable Reserves -- Specification of Body Axes and Localized Fate Allotment by External and Maternal Cues -- Positional Information, Embryonic Induction and Pattern Formation by Cell-Cell-Communication -- Controlling Signals, Signal Propagation and Signal Transduction -- Development and Genes -- Application- Oriented Experiments with Early Vertebrate Embryos: Cloning, Transgenic Animals -- Morphogenesis: Shaping by Active Cell Movement, Differential Cell Adhesion and Cell Death -- Long Distance Wanderers and the Various Fates of the Neural Crest Cells -- The Nervous System and Central Sensory Organs -- Heart and Blood Vessels -- Stem cells, Regeneration, Regenerative Medicine -- Growth Control and Cancer -- Metamorphosis and its Hormonal Control -- Immortality or Ageing and Death: What is Nature's Aim? -- Evolution of Development.