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some misleading statements and factual original records included as required), Paths to errors. These are particularly conspicuous genuinely help understanding and are well in the areas of cellular physiology and integrated with the text. The chapters on Ole H. Petersen should be corrected in future editions. neuroscience and the accounts of the Human Anatomy and Physiology. The two versions of Animal Physiology cardiovascular and respiratory systems are By Eldra Pearl Solomon and P. William as well as General and Comparative in my opinion superior to those in compar­ Davis. Physiology are designed for science able medical physiology textbooks. This will be good enough for some potential Saunders: 1983. Pp.794. Hbk $33.95, students taking physiology courses within £24.95; pbk £11.95. departments of physiology or zoology. Of purchasers and Human Physiology will be the three, Eckert and Randall's book, now seen by many dental and medical students Animal Physiology: Mechanisms and appearing in its second edition, is by far the as a good first choice of textbook on the Adaptations, 2nd Edn. most impressive. It has already acquired a subject. By Roger Eckert and David Randall. solid reputation which is bound to grow It is therefore annoying that it is not pos­ W.H. Freeman: 1983. Pp.830. Hbk further since the authors do indeed, as sible to recommend the book without reser­ $32.95, £30.95; pbk £19.95. claimed in the preface, "develop the major vations. The balance is not right. Almost Animal Physiology: Adaptation and ideas in a simple and direct manner exactly half of the book (328 pages) is taken Environment, 3rd Edn. stressing principles and mechanisms ... ". up by the nervous system. As a conse­ By Knut Schmidt-Nielsen. The standard of presentation is very high quence, other areas - some of them of Cambridge University Press: 1984. indeed, the figures being instructive as well immediate importance in the study of Pp.619. Hbk £15, $29.95; pbk £12.95. as visually attractive. Each chapter ends internal - are unacceptably General and Comparative Physiology, with a summary and exercises; and in neglected. Two areas are very badly hit: the 3rd Edn. addition to a reading list, directing students gastrointestinal tract (22 pages) and the By William S. Hoar. to important reviews and books, there is a endocrine system (29 pages). The chapter Prentice-Hall: 1983. Pp.851. set of references (on the whole up-to-date) on the function of the gastrointestinal $32.95, £31.30. actually cited in the text. Many of the canal conveys the completely wrong Human Physiology. chapters are far superior to the treatment impression that this field is a backwater of Edited by Robert F. Schmidt and found in other textbooks, including those physiology on which new technologies, for Gerhard Thews. intended for medical students (for example in cellular physiology, have made Springer- Verlag: 1983. Pp.725. DM98, example, Chapter lion chemical mes­ little impression. The references listed at $39.20. sengers and regulators contains a clear the end of the chapter do not help very description of the role of cyclic AMP and much as they are rather dated. The endo­ Ca2 + as intracellular messengers for the crine chapter, however, is the worst. PFLOGER. the founder of the oldest extant action of hormones, something sadly Incredibly, mechanisms of action receive physiological journal, insisted that as the lacking in most other texts). I recommend only about 200 words, with the unsatis­ science of living matter physiology could this book without reservations, first of all factory excuse that this is an area discussed not be divided into physiological physics to the physiology students it is intended in biochemical and specialized texts. This and physiological chemistry. However, to for, but also to medical students as a sup­ certainly is not in line with the course a certain extent this has happened. plement to their standard reading. requirements of most medical-school Physiology courses now generally do not Schmidt-Nielsen's well-known Animal physiology departments in the United include biochemistry, the practice being . Physiology, now in its third edition, is a States and Britain. The sections on special reflected in most current textbooks. None­ somewhat briefer account with more endocrinology are also too brief and are theless the borders between physiology and emphasis on adaptation and environment. unsatisfactory as seen, for example, in the biochemistry are ill defined, particularly in The text is straightforward without any superficial treatment of the pancreatic hor­ areas such as membrane transport, neuro­ gimmicks. However chapters dealing with mones and the control of glucose. biology and endocrinology - all amongst several important areas, for example These deficiences must be rectified if the the growth points in the life sciences. , are lightweight. A book is to achieve the success it otherwise The authors of the five basic textbooks particularly unfortunate figure, schemat­ so richly deserves. under review follow different paths in this ically illustrating synapses that effect Authors of physiology textbooks are not respect. The most elementary of the books, electrical and chemical transmission, has known for taking up new ideas quickly. It is Human A natomy and Physiology, the latter labelled as a "tight junction"! nevertheless sad that although the books includes substantial amounts of (basic) Hoar's General and Comparative reviewed all describe in some detail the biochemistry, whereas at the other end of Physiology, also in its third edition, is electrical membrane characteristics of the spectrum Human Physiology contains comparable in length and cost to Eckert nerve and muscle cells, proclaiming this virtually no biological chemistry leaving, and Randall's Animal Physiology but area as one in which some of the triumphs for example, the chapter on endocrinology cannot stand up to the competition. The in physiology have been won, none of the with bleeding wounds. layout, quality of figures, clarity and depth authors seem to have appreciated the Human Anatomy and Physiology is a of treatment as well as the references are all impact that patch-clamp single-channel new textbook (as opposed to a new inferior. It is nevertheless a solid book, current recordings could have at the level of edition), mainly designed for introductory containing good chapters on homeostatic undergraduate teaching. It has been my courses in the health sciences. It has a mechanisms and endocrine regulation of experience that the molecular approach to trendy appearance, with many coloured reproduction. membrane physiology, with an emphasis diagrams and various boxes with special Human Physiology is a good English on specific ion pathways studied at the level inserts, and at the end of each chapter one translation of Schmidt and Thews's text­ of single-channels, makes it much easier finds summary, "post-test" and review book which has appeared in numerous for the student to understand basic electro­ questions. Each chapter is also preceded by German editions. Although there is already physiological concepts. Do physiology an outline, learning objectives and key an impressive number of English and textbook authors have to wait until Neher terms. The illustrations are of good American textbooks for the large medical and Sakmann have been awarded the quality; many are excellent. The book is market, this one could eventually become a Nobel Prize before they take into account comprehensive at a very basic level and best-seller. The presentation is excellent. this revolution in neurobiology? 0 could well become a popular choice for The figures are of a uniformly high nurses as well as different categories of standard (mostly they are schematic, in Ole H. Petersen is George Holt Professor of medical technologists. There are, however, black, grey, white and red, but with Physiology at the University of Liverpool.

© 1984 Nature Publishing Group