Textbooks, Monographs, and Other Volumes on Fetal and Newborn Physiology

Abstract

For many basic science and clinical investigators, Geoffrey Dawes’ Foetal and Neonatal Physiology (Dawes 1968) has served as the vade mecum par excelance. A number of other such volumes have been published, latter ones of which were stimulated by Dawes’ monograph. In 1920, the first work to appear on the subject, The principles of ante-natal and post-natal child physiology. Pure and Applied, was written by William Moses Feldman (1880–1939), physician and lecturer on child physiology at the Infants Hospital, London. (See Table 17.1). In the preface, Feldman observed that he prepared his work for “… students of physiology, and … pediatric physicians, and all scientific persons interested in the study of children … The task has not been an easy one, for I have had to travel far and wide in search of my material, and have had to cross numerous deep and uncharted oceans of literature…” (Feldman 1920, p. vii). In 41 chapters covering almost 700 pages, Feldman considered essentially every aspect of developmental physiology known at that time. Part I addresses conception, developmental biology, fetal nutrition, respiration, circulation, development of the nervous system, and the physiology of pregnancy. Part II considers the “Natal Stage” with the physiology of birth. In Part III, Feldman reviews the “Post-Natal” stage of life, physiology of the neonatal period, chemical composition of newborn tissues, the physiology of bone and the muscular system, infant metabolism, the circulation, and related topics. Part IV is dedicated to the physiology of the premature infant. Notable in Feldman’s work was his use of mathematics, physics, and chemistry in considering physiological problems (Feldman 1920).