The concept of this book has developed over the past fi fteen years as interest in the water and electrolyte disturbances associated with most environmental settings moved from a research area of descriptive discovery to one dealing with the mechanisms responsible for the previously observed disturbances. Most of the contributing authors have been involved in both aspects of this evolution of research, focusing on those problems associated with body fluid and electrolyte balance and searching for hormonal explanations. What did not accompany this transition, however, was a source of...