This volume emphasizes the comparative approach to under standing vertebrate renal function. I am convinced that this approach is of particular value in understanding both the details of renal function at the cellular and subcellular levels and the renal role in regulating fluid volumes and solute concentrations. My exposure to this approach first occurred during a student research experience in the laboratory of Wilbur H. Sawyer, who also provided an introduction to the works of Homer W. Smith and August Krogh. The importance of this approach was reinforced by doctoral and postdoctoral...

As such, the book provides comprehensive information on comparative renal functionfor biological scientists and advanced students of biology with some knowledgeof physiology and a desire to know more about renal function in vertebrates,and for mammalian renal physiologists who wish to obtain a broader view ofrenal function.