Preface

This 17th edition of Junqueira’s Basic Histology: Text and Atlas continues to emphasize the features that have made it a preferred resource for over 50 years, for both students in the health professions and undergraduates internationally. Foremost among these features are (1) its concise and straightforward text which provides all information on human histology such students require without unnecessary detail and (2) its excellent blend of high-quality photomicrographs and clear, uncluttered, well-labeled illustrations. Each chapter—covering histological methods, fundamentals of cell biology, the biology of the basic tissues, and each of the body’s organ systems—maintains a focus on these attributes while also being up-to-date and including other features not found in competing textbooks.

Testifying to its value to students and experts alike, Junqueira’s Basic Histology is a perennial best-seller among histology text and atlases on Amazon and a “Core Title in the Health Sciences” by Doody’s Medical Book Review Service. It has also been chosen as a top reference source for histology content at several online resources for healthcare professionals teaching or learning anatomy and histology. Junqueira meets the needs of students and professors throughout the world and has been published in 18 languages besides English.

Today’s students in the health professions most likely study histology not as a separate course, but as part of larger curricular blocks such as “Human Structure" or "Molecules, Cells and Tissues,” or within the context of individual organ systems. Junqueira’s Basic Histology has long facilitated such integrated approaches to learning by including along with the basic structural features of cells, tissues and organs, an emphasis on how their structures relate to their functions. This allows Junqueira to provide not only a firm foundation for later studies in pathology (study of diseased tissues) but also a strong basis in the cell biological aspects of biochemistry, immunology, endocrinology, and many aspects of physiology, as well as authoritative introductions to medical specialties such as hematology, dermatology, dentistry, ophthalmology, urology and others.

New features in this 17th English edition of Junqueira include the following:

• Major portions of the text have been rewritten for still greater conciseness, simplicity, and readability, with more important facts repeated in the figure captions.

• Chapters in the online version available with AccessMedicine in your medical library’s online resources now include 500 multiple-choice questions for self-assessment of your understanding of the chapter’s key points.

• The rewritten text places more emphasis on the embryonic origins of tissues and organs where this is useful for understanding structure and function. This more clearly integrates histology with the embryological and gross anatomical components of the modern curriculum.

• While revising and shortening each chapter where feasible, I have updated several specific topics as needed.

Other features introduced in recent editions unique to Junqueira’s Basic Histology that are retained and improved include:

• Brilliant, high quality, full-color illustrations, rendered with three-dimensional detail and well-labeled, summarize basic aspects of each structure.

• A full-color photographic atlas, with all highlights labeled, includes every major cell, tissue type, and organ in the body.

• The standard atlas is supplemented by dozens of research-generated photos of cells and other microscopic structures not routinely included in student atlases, but kindly provided for this textbook by researchers from all over the world.

• Summary Tables in each chapter organize and condense important information, facilitating efficient learning.

• Comprehensive “Summaries of Key Points” at the end of each chapter, briefly recapping fundamental facts from the text and figures.

• Multiple-choice “Assess Your Knowledge” questions, including questions with clinical vignettes for framing medical relevance and applications of basic science concepts, allow the learner to gauge how well they comprehend each chapter.

• Selected “Medical Applications” boxes are placed throughout each chapter to help learners appreciate the medical relevance of the material being studied.

• The digital version of Junqueira’s Basic Histology: Text and Atlas, available with McGraw Hill’s AccessMedicine through most medical libraries, incorporates a detailed Lab Guide for that material, including (1) the learning objectives for that laboratory session, (2) a list of important structures to identify and terms to use and understand, (3) detailed microscopic directions for studying each tissue and locating those structures, and (4) self-assessment questions with each session. These laboratory exercises link to photographic material in the Junqueira textbook and can be used with slides in any virtual or glass slide collection, making this digital Lab Guide a unique instrument among other histology texts and atlases. No other major textbook of tissue biology includes detailed guidance for learners through the microscopic or laboratory portion of the typical undergraduate or medical school coverage of histology.

• Included with the digital Lab Guide on AccessMedicine are links to an excellent collection of scannable and focusable virtual light microscope slides.

Students who cannot link to AccessMedicine may lack access to this digital Lab Guide but may still utilize the collection of over 150 virtual light microscope slides of human tissues and organs at: http://medsci.indiana.edu/junqueira/virtual/junqueira.htm. This set of virtual slides is available without restrictions for use with any instructor’s guide for human histology lab exercises.

To allow additional review of what’s been learned or to assist rapid assimilation of the material in Junqueira’s Basic Histology, I’ve also authored for McGraw Hill a set of 200 full-color Lange Basic Histology Flash Cards. Each card includes images of key structures to identify, a summary of important facts about those structures, and a clinical comment. This valuable learning aid is available from Amazon.com.

With its concise yet authoritative and up-to-date presentations, excellent color micrographs and illustrations, and links with a digital Lab Guide and slide collection, I feel sure that Junqueira’s Basic Histology will continue as one of the most valued and widely used educational resources in histology worldwide. I thank for you for reading this summary and hope you will appreciate the upcoming tour through the body’s microscopic structures. As always, users are invited to provide me with feedback about any aspect of the book’s content or features.