“Huang has taken on the mammoth task of bringing the book up to date and has succeeded in maintaining the enthusiastic and eminently readable approach of Keynes and Aidley who created one of the greatest physiology books covering the crucial areas of nerve and muscle.

The fascinating historical perspective on the discovery of membrane potentials, the transmission of nerve impulses and their molecular basis is essential reading for students of medicine and physiology with a curiosity about scientific methods, and progress. The chapters on muscle – skeletal, cardiac and smooth – show how the concepts elaborated for nerve cells are relevant to contractile tissues, and how the electrical signals are translated into movement.

The new edition shows how the important discoveries in the twentieth century remain central today, and the book provides the groundwork for the enormous and exciting task that still lies ahead, namely the understanding of how nerve transmission in the central nervous system is integrated to achieve the higher functions of the human brain, memory, learning and consciousness.”
Michael A. Ferenczi, Imperial College London

“This book is a beautifully written gem. It is clearly illustrated, and it makes one of the most difficult areas of biology completely accessible. It should find its way onto the bookshelves of electrophysiologists everywhere and any students who aspire to master one of the most exciting areas of modern biology.”
Denis Noble, University of Oxford

“… an excellent summary of the fundamentals of each system and their interactions, while introducing some historic and contemporary experimental evidence on which current understanding is based. Highly recommended.”
K.A. Campbell, Choice Magazine

Written with the undergraduate student in mind, this book provides a compact introduction to the physiology of nerve and muscle. Updated to reflect recent developments in the field, this fourth edition retains its predecessor’s straightforward account of the fundamentals including nerve impulses, synaptic transmission and muscle contraction.

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