This is a little book with no great pretensions. The authors do not claim it to be world-startling nor Nobel- or Pulitzer-prize-winning. It is a valuable primer for pharmacokinetics for those desiring a proper initiation into previously assumed mysteries. It is fully intended as an introduction to the basic concept of pharmacokinetics and will be welcomed by all who wish to apply its principles to their own disciplines, whether in life sciences or medicine, without being confused by excess mathematics. It is edited by two well-known German scientists who are primarily practicing pediatricians and who use pharmacokinetics in their daily work, in a field of medicine where the proper adjustment of doses for infants and children is a delicate and life-preserving art. They were trained as pediatricians and as pharmacokinetists by the world-renowned Profes sor F. HARTMUT DOST, who uniquely synthesized these two disciplines and who, as a pioneer in this field, published the first book on pharmacokine tics in 1953. In their own right, the editors have conducted excellent and unique research on the effect and fate of drugs and have followed up the unexpected changes in drug action accompanying the rapid developments encountered in the initial hours, days, and weeks after birth. You will find some interesting Germanisms in this book a la Professor DOST. I personally feel that these will give some spice to their renditions.

I. Volume of Distribution

II. Compartments
1. Protein Binding
2. Gastrointestinal Reabsorption
III. Elimination
1. Equation for Elimination
IV. Steady State
1. Conditions for a Steady State
2. Artificial Steady State - Continous Infusion
V. Multicompartment Systems
1. The Model
2. Dost's Principle of Corresponding Areas
3. Dost's Rule of Corresponding Fractional Areas
4. General Consideration of Multicompartment Models
VI. Pharmacokinetics and Treatment
1. Repeated Administration of a Drug
VII. Pharmacokinetics of Gastrointestinal Absorption
1. Gastrointestinal Absorption and the Bateman Function
2. Reconstruction of the Invasion Curves
3. Use of the Invasion Curves
4. Calculation of Dose-Proportional Absorption
5. Variants of the Invasion Process in Gastrointestinal Absorption
6. Conclusions
7. Appendix: Some Formulae and Their Derivation
VIII. Interaction
1 Elimination
2. Volume of Distribution
3. Conclusions
IX. Use of Analogue Computers in Pharmacokinetics
1. Principle of the Analogue Computer
2. Programming the Analogue Computer
3. Use
X. Practical Application of Pharmacokinetic Procedures
1. Methods of Measurement
2. Assessment of the Results of Animal Experiments
3. Derivation of Pharmacokinetic Parameters and Constants
4. Mathematical Basis of Programming
5. Examples of Calculation
Further Reading.