Dr Hamerman is one of a handful of physicians trained in another field who took on the daunting task of developing geriatric medicine in the United States during the 1980s. He stood out as a leader who stressed the importance of maintaining a scientific basis to the emerging field of geriatrics if it was going to succeed in gaining the respect of physicians in other fields. This book represents his personal view of how much science exists for the basis of geriatric clinical practice. As he states in the preface ‘there is no intension of “completeness”, but rather “selectivity” based on my own interests and intensive reading’. This book is aimed at geriatricians and to read easily requires some background of scientific knowledge.

The topics covered include cytokines and their role in ageing, genetics and caloric restriction in extending lifespan, the metabolic syndrome, osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, frailty, cancer and dementia (written by Peter Davies). I found the pieces on osteoporosis and osteoarthritis extremely useful. Similarly the cytokine section was an excellent review of this area. A particularly challenging and enjoyable section of the book was the chapter on ‘Interactive therapies significant for an aging population’. While I did not agree with all the author's conclusions, this section certainly provides a blueprint for how geriatricians should approach the understanding and management of complex ageing syndromes. As a geriatrician, I found his eulogy for statins a bit unsettling. The section on thiazolidinediones was written before the accumulating evidence of potential cardiovascular damage produced by rosiglitazone. My personal bias would have had a more positive view of anabolic steroids, particularly as we watch the exciting development of selective androgen receptor molecules.

This book aims to provide geriatricians with insights into the basic science of ageing and disease. It certainly should result in geriatricians wanting to read more about the topics. A major problem with the book is a lack of editing. There are multiple instances where reviews or articles for further information should have either been footnoted or placed in an annotated bibliography at the end of the text. The section on ‘An introduction to concepts of molecular biology’ (by E. Richard Stanley) failed to address ageing, was difficult to follow, and added nothing to the text. Similarly, the reproduction of the figures in both black and white and colour added nothing and almost certainly increased the cost of the book. Overall, I found much of interest in the collection. To benefit from this book, however, a reader needs a strong science background and a broad knowledge of the clinical problems encountered in geriatrics.