Medical and Surgical Endocrinology

IN 1963 these authors published a highly practical textbook of Endocrinology entitled "Clinical Endocrinology for Surgeons" which was widely acclaimed. Progress in endocrinology in the intervening twelve years has demanded the production of a revised version, but the present volume is much more than just a second edition. It is deliberately aimed at a larger market, including physicians, physiologists and laboratory workers as well as surgeons. Much of the original has been eliminated, including almost all the clinical photographs and the rather charming, almost anecdotal, "Belfast series" of clinical experiences. Removal of this type of material is in keeping with current practice, but it does perhaps make the remaining text just a little drier. Progress in endocrinology has been so explosive that the size of the book is doubled-to a total of some 600 pages. Every clinical aspect of endocrinology is covered in detail, including clear descriptions of biochemistry, easily comprehended even by the amateur. The "Belfast" flavour of the work is preserved by Dr. McGeown's excellent chapter on the parathyroid glands, and Professor Ivan Johnston's lucid contribution on the endocrine response to stress. Each clinician will probably choose a different chapter as the most interesting and useful to him, but my personal choice includes those on the adrenal cortex and the alimentary tract, which is rightly recognized as the largest endocrine organ in the body. The book is encyclopaedic in its information content and remarkably up-to-date (in view of the delays in publication) with many 1973 references. References are not included in the text, but given at the end of each chapter; a system with advocates, but also with disadvantages. The index is excellent and the layout of individual chapters is clear, greatly helping the busy doctor who dips into the book to find information quickly. I do wish that I could give the hackneyed advice to "every clinician to buy a; copy" but unfortunately inflation has intervened. In 1963 the cost was £4.00; today, all the expensive photographs have been omitted and the quality of the paper having deteriorated, the price has increased more than six-fold! It is perhaps not within the remit of the reviewer to criticize the publisher, but this fantastic price, together with repeated delays in publication, really is disappointing. I predict that this book will be in great demand, so that libraries and those with A+ awards are advised to keep their copies on …