生命の科学である生理学は生物のしくみ、非生物との違いを理解しようとするもので、人体生理学は身体がどう働き、知覚し、反応し、防御するのかを解き明かすものです。生命現象は多岐にわたる生理学的秩序と原理の相互作用によって維持されています。そのプロセスを理解し、これに係わる倫理的問題を分析するための生理学的実験・研究について検討するほか、生理学的な知識を深めることが、医学研究や医療にとっていかに重要であるかを説明しながらこの分野の進歩を考察します。
   

• Explores the field of human physiology, including the experiments and research methods involved in understanding how the human body works
• Considers the interplay of a wide variety of physiological mechanisms and principles to sustain life
• Discusses the medical applications of discoveries in the field of human physiology

   
Physiology is the science of life, and sets out to understand how living things work and what makes them distinct from the non-living. It considers how our bodies are supplied with energy, how they maintain their internal parameters, the ways in which we gather and process information, the ways we take action, and the creation of new generations.
    
This Very Short Introduction explores the field of human physiology, considering how the body works, senses, reacts, and defends itself. As Jamie A. Davies shows, human life (and indeed, all life) is sustained by the interplay of a wide variety of physiological mechanisms and principles. He discusses the physiological experiments and research undertaken to understand these processes, and analyses the ethical issues involved. He also considers the evolution of the scientific field itself, showing how enhanced understandings of physiological knowledge can help inform medical research and care.