No one should be put off by the title. A natural reaction is, "What, another book on clotting?" But this is not just another monograph; it may turn out to be one of the classics in this field. It is written by one of the senior scholars in coagulation research who therefore can make critical judgments about the literature, making this work both current and discriminatory.
The book begins with an excellent historical survey of hemostasis and hemostasis research. This background is followed by chapters devoted to normal platelet function, vascular factors in hemostasis, interactions of purified coagulation proteins, and finally, a section devoted to the physiologic implications of normal hemostasis.
The next portion of the book deals with defects in platelets and clotting proteins and includes a discussion of the abnormalities in clinical hemostasis produced by hypocalcemia. Clinical disorders of platelets, von Willebrand disease, the hemophilias, and the hemorrhagic