ment based on both increasing anatomic complexity and the direction of
information flow in the nervous system.

Most important of all, however, an extra effort has been made to inter-
pret and make clear the significance of the biological findings. In every
instance possible the author has tried to explain why a particular finding
is important and what the questions are that led to the asking of a particu-
lar experimental question. If the book is to achieve its particular goal, this
is what it is hoped it does better than any of its predecessors.

The subject matter of this book--cellular neurophysiology and integra-
tion--is contemporary, relevant, and important. With regard to these issues
it stands on its own feet. Though theoretical and experimental neurophysi-
ology will probably not add to the variety of foods in our larder or solve
the energy or population problems, it is a field that probably more than
any other may help to provide the basis for an understanding of ourselves
and of the essence of human nature. What is the origin of mental life?
How is it that we are the special and unique cognitive entities that we
are? How can we solve the problems that really matter--of man's relation-
ship to himself and to his fellow man? These are the questions that will
be important in the next millenium, and these are the questions whose
solutions require insights from neurophysiology. In the long run (that is
the target range towards which at least some of us must keep aimed, in
this time of pressure for immediate "relevance") the nature of the nervous
system, and with it all of the related medical, sociological, and psychologi-
cal issues, will remain the major intellectual challenges.

No author of a textbook such as this can claim to have done all the
work himself. The works of the many distinguished scholars that have been
cited in the body of the text contributed directly to the book's organization.
The indirect influence of many other scientists will be clear to any informed
reader. Specifically Professor Stephen Easter of The University of Michi-
gan's Zoology Department did me the courtesy of reading and commenting
on the entire manuscript. The book is much improved because of his
efforts. Professor James Ranck of The University of Michigan's Physiology
Department also helped enormously by reading and commenting on a num-
ber of early draft chapters. Much of this book was written while I was
a visiting researcher at the University of Hawaii's Sensory Sciences Labora-
tory. I am grateful to the trio of co-directors, Drs. Robert Cole, Ian
Cooke, and M. E. Bitterman for their cordial hospitality in that stimulating
environment. I am also grateful to Ms. Lynn Gore for her competent typing
and editorial advice and to Ms. Lillian Weigum, who assisted with typing
of the final manuscript. Ms. Thelma Eskin energetically helped me through
the final rush of figures and bibliographies as well as compiling the subject
index.

As ever, my wife May has provided the wisdom and support that makes
any task of mine possible.

William R. Uttal

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