A Thinking Approach To Physiology

by Ian N Sabir, Juliet A Usher-smith

Overview

Whereas other fields continue to become more complex and specialized, physiology happily remains an area that can still be understood by thinking from first principles. However, given the increasing quantity of information available today, it is easy to become overly concerned with details and give in to the temptation to memorize rather than understand. In this concise book, the authors convey their enthusiasm for physiology and convincingly persuade the reader that with a sound understanding of principles, details often fall effortlessly into place. It is by no means an attempt to produce another comprehensive textbook. Instead, a broad overview of the subject is presented, covering areas that are not given the attention they deserve in other texts whilst purposely omitting those aspects where memorization is an unfortunate necessity.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9789812706010
Publisher:	World Scientific Publishing Company, Incorporated
Publication date:	04/07/2008
Pages:	252
Product dimensions:	6.02(w) x 9.29(h) x 0.66(d)

Editorial Reviews

Reviewer: Roy D. Russ, PhD. (Mercer University School of Medicine)
Description: This overview attempts to describe the basic concepts of physiology without overwhelming students with too much detail, instead focusing on the theoretical and conceptual foundations.
Purpose: The authors' main purpose seems to be to explain the theoretical and conceptual underpinnings of physiological function without subjecting students to an excessive amount of detail. This is a worthy objective for an overview, but there are other books that are more effective at accomplishing this goal.
Audience: Presumably, it is aimed at students who are beginning their study of physiology and is intended to provide a foundation upon which they can build. However, it is better suited as a review for those who are already familiar with the material but would like to quickly refresh their memory of basic conceptual physiology, perhaps as it applies to an organ system they have not studied for some time.
Features: The book covers the physiology of all the major organs/systems, as well as some topics in general physiology. There is nothing that makes this book stand out from other similar texts.
Assessment: This is an acceptable overview of physiological concepts. It is generally easy to read, but it does not offer any improvement over others in the field (e.g., Costanzo, Physiology, 3rd edition (Elsevier, 2006)). It lacks full color illustrations and accompanying online content which students are increasingly becoming to expect. It might be more useful for those who have already taken an advanced physiology course and would like to refresh their memory. I would find it useful in preparing to teach a course.

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