Biomedical Sciences Explained: Haematology

Biomedical Sciences Explained: Haematology C. J. Pallister. Oxford: Butterworth Heineman. 1999. ISBN 0-7506-2457-4. 262 pp. 19.99.

This book is written by the series editor and follows the now familiar style that typifies this highly commendable series of texts. Each chapter commences with learning objectives and concludes with a series of self-assessment questions and key concepts/facts. Boxes appear regularly in the margins of the text illuminating key or interesting facts, or both.

The author's approach in this text is to provide a conceptual framework of haematology at the physiological and pathophysiological level. In my opinion, the author's aims are fully realised. Furthermore, haematological principles are soundly underpinned without trespassing significantly into those clinical or laboratory-based areas that are well served by other texts.

The book is divided into eighteen chapters. The first three deal with the content of blood, its nutritional requirements and disorders of iron metabolism. Seven chapters then embrace various aspects of red-cell structure, content, function and red-cell abnormality. At this point the text changes direction to consider proliferative disorders of blood - five chapters encompass haematological malignancy and one considers the hypoplastic anaemias. The book concludes with two chapters on normal and disordered haemostasis. There are no major surprises within this text - this is an orthodox approach - nor are there any glaring omissions.

A valuable supplementary section included at the end of the book is a list of useful Internet sites. These range from general interest sites (e.g. the IBMS site) to disease-specific sites. A minor criticism of the latter is the primary focus on haematological malignancy, with few sites relating to other haematological disease states included.

The author is to be commended for providing a highly readable, informative and topical text. This book series is 'pitched' at the first- and second-year biomedical science undergraduate, but the scope of this particular text extends well beyond this audience. In my opinion, this book should be highly recommended as a key basic text for all life-science students studying haematology. Furthermore, it merits inclusion on the shelf of the haematology department to support workbased training and education.

D. S. McLellan