Man and Mouse: Animals in Medical Research

The neurosciences and neurology seem fearsome adversaries to many medical students. They are rapidly changing disciplines, and seem unnaturally beholden to vocabulary, concepts, and techniques far removed from those associated with the study of other organ systems. It is in an area such as this that a book aimed at students making the transition between the classroom and the wards can be most useful. There is a need for readable monographs which can illuminate the unity of the discipline rather than present a series of areas of intense research interest. The organization of this work is comprehensive. Part I is composed of eleven chapters describing functional and anatomical systems, while the eight chapters of Part II are devoted to various disease processes. It is a good plan for a book, but the end result is less than satisfying. The book does not flow well. This is a problem for many multi-authored works and may merely be a reflection of the Byzantine nature of the field, but one hopes for a greater degree of clarity and continuity of style in an introductory text. Nonetheless, the work is comprehensive and contains a wealth of useful information and references for the medical student or the neuroscientist; some students will undoubtedly find it to be of great merit.