The Communication Systems of the Body: Horrobin, David F.; Basic Books, Inc., 1964, 214 pp, $4.95.

This book is not for light or fun reading. While interesting, i t gives involved and detailed descriptions of the physiology of the sensory systems of the human body. The communication network of the body and i t s responses to external and internal stimuli are well explained.

The body's methods of collecting stimuli, sorting and responding to it via the brain, its control center, are explored and ex- plained. The student of human behavior will find some interesting points in the dis- cussions of the systems and the involun- tary reactions caused by hormonal stimu- lation.

Each of the twenty chapters i s dedicated to a specific sense organ or body function. The details of the chemical and neurolog- ical makeup of these organs and systems gives an excellent view of the complex mechanism which controls sensory re- sponses.

Joan Miller, RN Battle Creek, Mich

Christiaan Barnard, One Life: Barnard, Christiaan, Pepper, Curtis Bill; The Mac- millan Co., 1970, 402 pp, $7.95.

One l i fe i s a fascinating account of the dreams of a dedicated medical pioneer who choose for himself the life of the physician, with its moral and practical responsibilities. It presents an interesting and enlightening look into the personality and character of Christiaan Barnard, MD, PhD.

In his autobiography, coauthored by Curtis Bill Pepper, Dr. Barnard reveals his agonizing personal decisions, conflicts, mistakes and hopes for the future. He re- calls his childhood in South Africa and the great influence his parents had on his personality and ambitions. He tells of his stormy marriage and the search for

identity he faced while practicing in a small town.

The critical turning point in Dr. Bar- nard's life was the opportunity to study in America with the world's foremost pioneers in open heart surgery. Years of work, hard- ship, intensive study and research brought him to his ultimate goal. He describes with much detail the triumphs and tragedies of his career.

Dr. Barnard relates the results of a myriad of experiments and heart trans- plants done on dogs which led to the remarkable human heart transplant in 1967. He describes in detail the remark- able operation and the critical postop- erative course of the extraordinary man who received a heart from a young girl.

This book i s not only a highly detailed account of some of medicine's most dra- matic historical moments, i t i s a warm, hu- man version of a public figure's hidden life.

I : reeks with honesty. Dr. Barnard openly shows the negative parts of his complicated life - so truthful i s the nega- tive, in fact, that it forces the reader to believe and feel the emotion of the positive.

Jacqueline Savage Cincinnati, Ohio

Professional Nursing: (Foundations, Perspectives, and Relationships), ed. 8: Spalding, Eugenia Kennedy, RN MA DHL, Notter, Lucille E., RN MA Ed D; J. B. Lippincott Company, 1970, 677 pp.

It i s interesting to note the first edition of this book was published in 1939 under the title Professional Adjustments in Nurs- ing and has had four title changes since then. Basically, however, it remains the same.

It i s organized into basic parts: "The Profession of Nursing and its Social Setting: Past and Present" i s the first section and it is fascinating, not "dry." It renews for the reader previously read history.

140 AORN Journal