Pioneers In Neuroendocrinology

In the middle and late 1960s, when it was clear that neuroendocrinology was established as a discipline in its own right, it occurred to us that auto biographical accounts of the pioneer work in this field by the major par ticipants would provide a highly interesting and informative account of his tory in the making. With the death of G. W. Harris in late 1971, and the loss thereby of an outstanding pioneer and personality in neuroendocri nology, it appeared to us to be even more urgent to undertake such a ven ture and collect as many stories as possible. The three of us agreed that initially we would limit our invitations to the senior investigators whose re search careers lay mostly behind them, with the hope that if this venture proved successful, we could ask younger and still very active researchers in neuroendocrinology to contribute to a subsequent volume. Most of those invited to write for this book agreed to do so, but regrettably there remain some notable absentees. The authors were requested to write a personal, and even idiosyncratic, account of the steps taken, and the motivation and drive that led them to develop their interest in the relationship between the brain and the endocrine system.

Behavioral neuroendocrinologists are interested in the interactions between hormones and behaviors. This unique book tracks the development of behavioral neuroendocrinology from the first recognized paper in the field by Arnold Berthold in 1849 to the major contributors of the past century. It traces the history and development of the field by exploring the women and men who conducted the studies that revealed these hormone-behavioral relationships. Most chapters are written by the individuals who knew these pioneers best, and describe their stories and discuss the ways in which their work has shaped the field. Now is the perfect time for this book. The field is burgeoning and interest in the development of theoretical perspectives is thriving. Moreover, although this field was dominated by men early on, it has become a field with near sexual parity among its faculty, society membership, and leadership, and thus serves as an example of equitable science, training, and advocacy.

HIS book grew out of suggestions from the Publications Com T mittee of the American Physiological Society, which has planned a series covering the development of ideas about a number of areas of physiology. This was prompted by the great success of Circulation of the Blood: Men and Ideas, edited by A. P. Fishman and D. W. Richards, which was originally published in 1964 and then reissued by the Society in 1982. Three companion books are being completed in conjunction with the centennial year of the American Physiolog ical Society: this volume on endocrinology, one on the kidney, and one on membrane transport. It was our purpose not to provide a complete bibliography or a complete listing of all the progress made in a given area but to show PREFACE the principal ideas and how they developed. Consequently, limi- tions were placed on the number of references and on the length of each chapter. This book covers most of the areas of endocrinology; it is not completely comprehensive but discusses the main pathways of development and highlights the prominent investigators. We hope that the book as a whole will give an excellent picture of the evolution of this exciting area of physiology and the people involved in its growth. Most of the endocrine organs were discovered in antiquity by such early workers as Aristotle and Galen. The last endocrine gland to be discovered was the parathyroid in 1891 by Gley.