Franklin IC-118 User Manual page 4

NOTE: This foreword of the 16th Edition of THE MERCK
MANUAL contains page references not applicable to the digi-
tal book.
It has been 93 years since THE MERCK MANUAL first ap-
peared in 1899 as a slender 262-page text titled MERCK'S
MANUAL OF THE MATERIA MEDICA. It was expressly de-
signed to meet the needs of general practitioners in selecting
medications, noting that "memory is treacherous" and that
even the most thoroughly informed physician needs a re-
minder "to make him at once master of the situation and en-
able him to prescribe exactly what his judgment tells him is
needed for the occasion." It was well received and, by the 6th
Edition (1934), THE MERCK MANUAL had become highly
valued by medical students and house staff as well; by the
end of World War II the pocket-sized manual was an estab-
lished favorite ready—reference book. Today THE MANUAL
is the most widely used medical text in the world. While the
book has grown to about 2800 pages, its primary purpose re-
mains the same—to provide useful clinical information to
practicing physicians, medical students, interns, residents,
and other health care professionals.
Fewer physicians now attempt to manage the whole range
of medical disorders that can occur in infants, children, and
adults, but those who do must have available a broad spec-
trum of current and accurate information. Specialists require
precise information about subjects outside their areas of ex-
pertise. All physicians need more and more information for
study and examination purposes, as well as for patient care.
Keeping up with the rapid and extraordinary advances in cel-
lular and molecular biology, molecular genetics, and medical
technology is more challenging that ever, but THE MERCK
MANUAL continues to try to meet these needs, excluding
only details of surgical procedures.
Precisely how to we attempt to meet these needs? First,
Foreword
3