Stedman's Medical Dictionary [antikvár]

PUBLISHER'S PREFACE TO THE 23RD EDITION Compilation of a comprehensive vocabulary that will meet the needs of students and professionals in all of the life sciences is indeed a challenge- one thai poses innumerable problems. For example, what are the sources and the criteria for the selection of new entries? Where are the boundaries for definitions that are informative but not encyclopedic in length? In a vocabulary riddled with synonyms, is it possible to search them all out and unequivocally designate preferred nomenclature? When does a medical term become obsolete-and when does an obsolete term lose its value as a dictionary entry? There are no rule-of-thumb solutions to these problems, but we learned in the 22nd edition that computerized control of the editing process could bring many individual questions into sharp focus, first, by making possible multiple-editor review of subjects in overlapping specialties, and second, by providing an efficient system for correlative crosschecking. In this 23rd edition, we have not only greatly expanded the rangé of the vocabulary, but we have tried to accomplish a greater degree of integration and coherence, while at the same time allowing the final vocabulary to fulfill the demands made by each of the widely divergent, yet often interrelated, specialties. Somé subjects, therefore, have been succinctly treated; others have received necessarily detailed elucidation. Continuous projects have been the quest for elusive synonyms in Stedman's massive vocabulary, the correlation of supplementary or related information, and the discrimination between synonyms and "nearsynonyms" (as in the case of the "splitters," who classify diseases into small groups according to differences, and the "lumpers," who classify them into large groups because of similarities). Individual editorial preferences were either combined to present definitions broader in scope, or resolved by interchange of ideas. In this way, we have added 15,313 new entries, of which 10,322 are new definitions and 4,991 are new cross-references for synonyms. We have revised 13,094 definitions. The combined vocabularies for gross anatomy, neuroanatomy, histology, and embryology were subjected to joint editorial review by the editors in these specialties; terminology adheres, as in past editions, to the Nomina Anatomica nomenclature, but definitions have been considerably revised and English equivalents (synonyms) for all of the NA terms have been supplied as cross-references. The neuroanatomy terms have been profoundly rewritten to reflect the expanding literature pertaining to the anatomy and physiology of the nervous system; because of the complexity of this subject, many of these definitions are encyclopedic in scope. The accuracy of all chemistry has been confirmed, and in the combined specialties of pharmacology and biochemistry more than a thousand new entries cover drugs, enzymes, pharmacognosy, and toxicology. The vocabularies of the bacteria, viruses, and other parasites have been expanded, and particular attention has been given to the literature of immunology and microbial genetics which during recent years has presented not only many new terms but alsó applications of old terms that have required relaxation of originál restrictive definitions. The several subspecialties of medicine and pathology have received attention from almost all editors, with greater correlation of synonyms, near-synonyms, and the inevitable eponyms; a major concentration of updating is to be found in the dermatological entries. The psychology, psychiatry, and respiratory physiology vocabularies alsó have been extensively rewritten. Stedman's classical etymology section in the preliminary pages has of course been retained, and in the section, "How to Use This Dictionary," a revised key to simplified phonetic spellings explains related changes made throughout the vocabulary. The gratifying reader response to our experimentál "'Subentry Index" convinced us of the value of this unique alphabetical master list of cross-references, which is repeated in this edition as Appendix 1. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Many reference sources have been consulted in our efforts to supply a vocabulary that reflects terminological preferences and specific criteria established by authoritative nomenclature groups. We wish especially to acknowledge the following: For anatomy, our source and frame of reference is Nomina Anatomica (Paris, 1955), as revised by the Seventh and Eighth International Congresses of Anatomists in 1960 and 1965, respectively. For veterinary anatomy, we have consulted Nomina Anatomica Veterinaria, Ed. 2, as approved by the General Assembly of the World Association of Veterinary Anatomists in 1971. Stedman editorial policy governing anatomical terms is explained on page xvi.