Hormones in Blood

BONE: AN INTRODUCTION To THE PHYSIOLOGY OF SKELETAL TISSUE. By Franklin C. McLean and Marshall R. Urist. Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1961. xvii, 261 pp. $6.00. The book is one of the series of The Scientists Library: Biology and Medicine. The purpose of the series is to provide authoritative information about the growth and status of various subjects in such a fashion that the individual books may be read with profit not only by the specialist but also by those whose interests lie in other fields. The book is not intended as a full-scale monograph on the physiology of bone. Historical treatment is reduced to a minimum, documentation is limited, illustrations are few. On the other hand, the text provides an extended treatment of the current state of the literature. The authors are well qualified because both have made notable contributions to the knowledge of bone. In addition, they collaborated in a number of studies. The content of the book is concerned with bone as a tissue rather than with its mechanical function in providing the skeletal support of the body or with the shape, adaptation, or development of individual bones. The intent of the authors is to bridge the gaps remaining between the various disciplines and to contribute to the unification of the subject. Nearly every approach to the study of bone is contained in the book including morphology, experimental embryology, histochemistry, enzyme chemistry, crystallography, endocrinology, electron microscopy, autoradiography, and microradiography. Complementing the many clinical treatises on bone, the book considers disorders of metabolism from the standpoint of pathological physiology rather than diagnosis and treatment. Reflecting the progress in the study of bone, this second edition represents an extensive revision entailing a considerable amount of complete rewriting and expansion of most of the text. However, the book still remains a concise statement of the present status and important advances in its field. E. S. CRELIN