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The base of knowledge in many sectors of physiology has again grown considerably in magnitude and depth since the last edition of this book was published. Many advances, especially the successful application of the
methods of molecular biology and gene technology brought completely new insight into cell signalling and communication as well as into many integrative functions of the body. This made it necessary to edit and, in some cases, enlarge some parts of the book, especially the chapters on blood clotting, water homeostasis, regulation of body weight, iron metabolism, sleep-wake cycle, memory and sound reception. In recent years, more pathophysiological aspects and clinical examples have been added to the curricula of medical physiology. To make allowance for this development also in this color atlas, the numerous references to clinical medicine are marked by blue margin bars, and pathophysiological and clinical key-words are
attached at the bottom of each text page. They should make it easier to recognize the relevance
of the physiological facts for clinical medicine at a glance, and to find quickly more information on these topics in textbooks of pathophysiology (e. g. in our Color Atlas of Pathophysiology) and clinical medicine.
I am very grateful for the many helpful comments from attentive readers and for the welcome feedback from my peers, this time especially from Prof. R. Renate Lüllmann-Rauch, Kiel, Prof. Gerhardt Burckhardt, Göttingen, Prof. Detlev Drenckhahn, Würzburg, and Dr. Michael Fischer, Mainz as well as from my colleagues and staff at the Department of Physiology in Würzburg. It was again a great pleasure to
work with Rüdiger Gay and Astried Rothenburger, to whom I am deeply indebted for revising
many illustrations in the book and for designing a number of new color plates. To them I extent my sincere thanks. I am also indebted to the publishing staff, Rachel Swift, a very competent editor, and Elisabeth Kurz, for invaluable production assistance. I would also like to thank Katharina Völker for her ever observant
and conscientious assistance in preparing the index. I hope that also the 6th Edition of the Color Atlas of Physiology will prove to be a valuable tool for helping students better understand physiological correlates, and that it will be a valuable reference for practicing physicians and scientists, to help them recall previously
learned information and gain new insights in physiology.
Würzburg, September 2008
Stefan Silbernag
