Fundamentals of Physiology: A Human Perspective (with CD-ROM and Infotrac) [With CDROM and Infotrac]

In retrospect, I wish I had hung on to this book. It is a great book with a nice companion CD. It is very thorough and well written. Now as a nursing student, I would like to refer back to it as I know it very well. Oh well... next time!

this book came in great shape and on time. thanks! the disc that comes with it was also extremely helpful!

Very good job! Although I encountered a problem with the CD that came with the book, the seller was more than willing to help and did so very timely! Excellent job!

Underlying the broad study of physiology lies several important principles; unless these are appreciated, studying physiology can prove to be difficult, time-consuming, and ultimately an experience you'd rather forget. Often in the hope of gaining a complete understanding of physiology, students will make the mistake of trying to attack the bigger/detailed texts such as guyton, ganong, and berne & levy. Unfortunately these books (particularly the latter two) are quite advanced and detailed, possessing a lot of minutiae. These books are useful for postgrads in science or for those sitting medical specialty exams. What you need if you're starting out in physiology is a book that clearly emphasises the principles, and avoids swamping you with detail that will quickly erase your appreciation of the big picture (your examiners will reward such perspective, and not the regurgitation of random facts! - the same is true for all areas of study). Sherwood does an amazing job of providing this information at just the right level for the beginner, laying down a solid foundation for further learning. I recommend using this as a primary text and consulting the other heavy weights for the fine print if your course syllabus (or thirst for knowledge!) requires this.

This is a very simple textbook. The content is clearly geared toward the beginner in biology, and the text could even be well-recieved and understood by nonscientists. That said, I think the book functions best (oddly) as material for upperclassmen in biology. The scarcity of detail - intended to make the book easier for the lay reader - actually serves the advanced student nicely by avoiding repitition of concepts already thoroughly covered in other courses. This is a physiology text which covers exactly that: physiology. It gets tiring after several years of schooling in biology to deal with all the overlap between classes (I cannot count the number of times I have had to memorize the reactions of the glycolytic pathway, for example), and this book avoids that. Overall, its a great rundown of the important concepts in human physiology, and would probably make a nice refresher for someone who took physiology in the distant past.