Endocrinology is a relatively young biological science, scarcely older than the 20th century. It is so young that as yet we have not comprehended its full scope. We are still in the process of identifying the functions and products of the endocrine glands and realizing that other glands and organs may have endocrine functions. It is not surprising, therefore, that this young science often seems a bewildering maze of theory, experimentation, and complex biochemistry.
Authors of books on endocrinology have generally used one of three techniques to present this maze to the reader. The first is to produce a veritable encyclopedia of all knowledge; the second, to present a brief practical cookbook for clinical management; the third, to deal only with a limited facet of endocrinology such as "female endocrinology." Such approaches have been of limited value in giving the reader a logical view of endocrinology.
Kupperman has attempted to