The second edition of this excellent and already classic monograph is certain to be welcomed by research workers as well as practitioners of pediatrics. It provides a wealth of useful and stimulating information for every physician who takes care of newborn infants, including obstetricians. It is a sign both of the rapid advances in the field and of the author's extensive reading and active participation in pediatric research that only 6 years after the publication of the first edition, almost every chapter has been revised and enriched by new references, and several have been almost completely rewritten.