The Evolution of Clinical Chemistry as Reflected in Textbooks Published in the United States

Abstract

On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the American Association for Clinical Chemistry, Dr. Thomas Annesley, Book Reviews Editor of Clinical Chemistry , felt that a review of clinical chemistry textbooks covering the past three decades would enable the younger generation of clinical chemists to appreciate the profound changes that have taken place in the clinical chemistry laboratory. He also felt that having worked in clinical chemistry laboratories for 40 years, which is tantamount to “being present at the creation”, qualified me for this assignment. While preparing this review, I recognized an interdependence among the practice of clinical chemistry and the contents of textbooks and Clinical Chemistry . As to what comes first, in my slightly biased opinion the Journal has set, and is setting, the pace for textbooks and laboratory practice. I focus on the book of N.W. Tietz, because comparison of the four editions depicts the dramatic changes that occurred in the clinical chemistry laboratory from 1970 to 1993, and on the 1964 book of R.J. Henry, because it was the most comprehensive and informative book of clinical chemistry of its time. Although there are several other important clinical chemistry textbooks, as depicted in Table 1⇓ , they were not reviewed because the changes between the first and last edition do not depict the metamorphosis of the clinical chemistry laboratory from the mid-1960s to the mid-1990s. R.J. Henry published the first comprehensive textbook of clinical chemistry in 1964; it dealt almost exclusively with the analytical aspects of the new, evolving medical laboratory discipline. Its 29 chapters covered principles of spectrophotometry, flame photometry, gasometric techniques, electrophoresis, accuracy, precision, control charts, significant figures (still abused by most authors and journals), and normal values. Analytical methods were described for various proteins and amino acid metabolites found in urine in …