In hardly any area of medicine is the rapid progress of new insights from recent decades more clearly reflected than in physiology and biochemistry, both of which form a crucial key to understanding pathological processes. While the first edition of the book already reached the limits of conceptual mastery and thus the representability of the immensely expanded material for a single author, this was even more true for a new edition. A modern design that corresponds to the current state of knowledge could only be achieved by dividing various fields among a number of authors. On the other hand, it was essential to prevent the uniformity of presentation from being disrupted by the immense versatility of the subject area and the overwhelming abundance of detailed knowledge. This was accomplished with the collaboration of 17 experts.