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Freinkel RK, Woodley DT, eds. The biology of the skin . New York : The Parthenon Publishing Group , 2001 . 432 pages. Price: USD 98.00 . Many of us remember sitting through the “Structure and function” course at the annual dermatology meetings. For some, the course was exciting, stimulating and inspiring. For others, it was a bit like the way a child might view taking medicine. It didn’t taste very good, but we knew it was good for us and would make us better. Drs. Freinkel and Woodley have put together a group of authors who succeeded in writing a book that addresses much of the same material as that traditional course while evoking much more of the first described response than the second. This volume contains 25 short chapters addressing many aspects of cutaneous biology. As stated in the preface, it does not aim to be a comprehensive discourse on any of these topics, but rather, to provide a framework upon which students, clinicians and scientists can build. I think that the book accomplishes this goal admirably. The book proceeds from a discussion of basic structure and function through a review of each of the anatomic structures encountered in the skin, each authored by noted experts in the field. More functional discussions such as aging, control of body temperature and cutaneous immunology follow. The final chapters address the more current aspects of cutaneous biology including cytokines, integrins, genetics, and oncogenes. A discussion of research techniques that is invaluable for the reader not intimately familiar with basic science research completes the volume. Unusual for a multi-authored volume, I found there to be a surprising degree of uniformity in the chapters. The writing is relatively light in style without resorting to dense documentation and recitation of primary data. Each of the authors managed to effectively summarize major developments and to paint with broader strokes. This serves to maintain the interest of the non-expert reader while at the same time providing a good basic understanding of the field. I especially enjoyed reading the “Structure and function” chapter, and those covering melanocytes, the basement membrane zone and research methodology. In each case, I actually found myself wanting to know more than the authors provided. This book covers much of the same material as does Goldsmith’s “Biochemistry and physiology of the skin”, albeit at a much less in-depth level, but it does so in much less space, a mere 432 pages and sells for only $98. I can highly recommend this volume to dermatopathologists who want to remain aware of recent developments in the areas of cutaneous biology.