Vander/Human Physiology - About the Authors

About the Authors

This author team has worked together to produce this well-respected text since it's first edition, published in 1970.

Arthur Vander is a Professor Emeritus at the University of Michigan, Department of Physiology.
Dorothy Luciano is retired from the University of Michigan, Department of Physiology.
James Sherman is a professor at the University of Michigan, Department of Physiology.

Goals of the Text

The purpose of this Human Physiology remains what it was in the first six editions: to present the fundamental principles and facts of human physiology in a format that is suitable for undergraduate students, regardless of academic backgrounds or fields of study: liberal arts, biology, nursing, pharmacy, or other allied health professions. The book is also suitable for dental students, and many medical students have also used previous editions to lay the foundation for the more detailed coverage they receive in their courses.

The most significant feature of this book is its clear, up-to-date, accurate explanations of mechanisms, rather than the mere description of facts and events. Because there are no limits to what can be covered in an introductory text, it is essential to reinforce over and over, through clear explanations, that physiology can be understood in terms of basic themes and principles. As evidenced by the very large number of flow diagrams employed, the book emphasizes understanding based on the ability to think in clearly defined chains of causal links. This approach is particularly evident in our emphasis of the dominant theme of human physiology and this book -- homeostasis as achieved through the coordinated function of homeostatic control systems.

To repeat, we have attempted to explain, integrate, and synthesize information rather than simply to describe, so that students will achieve a working knowledge of physiology, not just a memory bank of physiological facts. Since our aim has been to tell a coherent story, rather than to write an encyclopedia, we have been willing to devote considerable space to the logical development of difficult but essential concepts; examples are second messengers (chapter 7), membrane potentials (chapter 8), and the role of intrapleural pressure in breathing (chapter 15).

In keeping with our goals, the book progresses from the cell to the total body, utilizing at each level of increasing complexity information and principles developed previously. One example of this approach is as follows: the characteristics that account for protein specificity are presented in Part 1 (chapter 4), and this concept is used in that section to explain the "recognition" process exhibited by enzymes. It is then used again in Part 2 (chapter 7) for membrane receptors, and again in Part 3 (chapter 19) for antibodies. In this manner, the student is helped to see the basic foundations upon which more complex functions such as homeostatic neuroendocrine and immune responses are built.

Another example: Rather than presenting, in a single chapter, a gland-by-gland description of all the hormones, we give a description of the basic principles of endocrinology in chapter 10, but then save the details of the individual hormones for later chapters. This permits the student to focus on the functions of the hormones in the context of the homeostatic control systems in which they participate.

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