This volume describes the principal ideas and developments in endocrinology from the time of Aristotle through the most recent discoveries. Over the years, the field has involved an intertwining of information gained though clinical medicine with physiology, biochemistry, and genetics to discover a host of hormones, unravel their structure, and determine their function and mechanism of action. The books begins with a discussion of vasopressin, then examines the development of concepts in the control of pituitary hormones and their target glands. Other topics include the various pituitary hormones under neuronal control, pituitary target glands, peripheral hormones, the pancreatic hormones, hormone receptors, and comparative endocrinology. The book gives an excellent picture of the evolution of this exciting area of physiology and the people involved in its growth.

Klappentext

HIS book grew out of suggestions from the Publications Com­ T mittee of the American Physiological Society, which has planned a series covering the development of ideas about a number of areas of physiology. This was prompted by the great success of Circulation of the Blood: Men and Ideas, edited by A. P. Fishman and D. W. Richards, which was originally published in 1964 and then reissued by the Society in 1982. Three companion books are being completed in conjunction with the centennial year of the American Physiolog­ ical Society: this volume on endocrinology, one on the kidney, and one on membrane transport. It was our purpose not to provide a complete bibliography or a complete listing of all the progress made in a given area but to show PREFACE the principal ideas and how they developed. Consequently, limi- tions were placed on the number of references and on the length of each chapter. This book covers most of the areas of endocrinology; it is not completely comprehensive but discusses the main pathways of development and highlights the prominent investigators. We hope that the book as a whole will give an excellent picture of the evolution of this exciting area of physiology and the people involved in its growth. Most of the endocrine organs were discovered in antiquity by such early workers as Aristotle and Galen. The last endocrine gland to be discovered was the parathyroid in 1891 by Gley.

Inhalt

I Vasopressin and Regulation of Water Homeostasis and Cardiovascular Function.- II Anterior Pituitary Neural Control Concepts.- III Saga of the Discovery of Hypothalamic Releasing and Inhibiting Hormones.- IV Gonadotropins.- V Pituitary-Adrenal System.- VI Prolactin.- VII Defining Thyroid Hormone: Its Nature and Control.- VIII Endocrine Function of the Ovary.- IX Pineal Gland.- X Parathyroid Hormone and Calcitonin.- XI A View of the History of Biology From an Islet of Langerhans.- XII Mechanism of Hormone Action.- XIII Receptors: Birth, Eclipse, and Rediscovery.- XIV Atrial Natriuretic Factor: A Hormone From the Heart.- XV Comparative Endocrinology.- Contributors.