Abstract
Rubin, E (ed.). Essential Pathology, 3rd ed., 786 pp. Lippincott Williams and Wilkins, Philadelphia, PA, 2001. $60.00. ISBN 0-7817-2395-7.
Essential Pathology is a human pathology text based on a larger, more extensive version. It is intended for medical students and students in allied medical sciences. The book has 47 contributors to 29 chapters, with the first nine chapters devoted to basic topics in general pathology and etiologic agents. The following chapters cover the pertinent aspects of the most important diseases in each organ system, with less information on minor diseases.
The book is written in a clear and concise style that is informative without being dull and without suffering from style differences common to multiple-author texts. Illustrations are plentiful, and the diagrams and schematics are one of the strengths of the book. Colored cartoons of disease processes and mechanisms accompany virtually every chapter and illustrate important concepts in an easily understandable fashion without being over simplistic or excessively complex.
Photographs of gross specimens are abundant and usually of good quality, although as common in human pathology texts, many of the specimens have been fixed and lack true color. Photomicrographs vary in quality and as a rule tend to be small and muted. Staining varies markedly in tone and intensity, with so much variation in hematoxylin and eosin intensity that it is occasionally difficult to determine the type of stain used. Gross pictures and photomicrographs alike often suffer from lack of or inadequate labeling. Although a trained pathologist would easily recognize the important points made by the photographs, nonpathologists would derive more benefit from the photographs if there were better labeling, including specification of magnification.
Essential Pathology has no references or lists of suggested readings, unlike the textbook from which it was derived. This certainly shortens the book but deprives it of an “authority,” which it otherwise deserves given the high quality of the information it contains. This book does a very good job of reaching its intended target, i.e., beginning students in health sciences. It is indeed about the essentials of human pathology and would likely not be as useful to veterinary pathologists who need in-depth information about human diseases.
I would consider using the book as an adjunct to teaching general pathology because of the high quality of the illustrations that demonstrate processes and pathogenesis, but there are better values for basic references on human pathology, namely this book's parent, Pathology by Rubin and Farber and Robbins Pathologic Basis of Disease by Cotran et al.