Overview
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.