Whether a picture is indeed worth a thousand words has been a subject of controversy in educational psychology. Current opinion seems to support the facilitation of prose learning by illustrations, provided that the illustrations are relevant to the text. Large individual differences in imaging ability and the cognitive processing of information are also important.

For those who learn well from visual images and for teachers of endocrinology, Clinical Endocrinology and its supplementary slide atlas may prove useful. The usual medical or endocrinology textbook consists of printed text supplemented with illustrations. Clinical Endocrinology, which was initially conceived as a slide atlas, reverses the emphasis: Most pages are dominated by generous, full-color illustrations, and the text is supplementary. The illustrations in the textbook are identical to the 1005 slides in the atlas. The atlas is supplied in 10 units; each is a loose-leaf binder containing slides on several topics and separate ring-bound pages, identical to the corresponding sections of the textbook. Thus, the atlas contains all of the material in the textbook as well as a slide of each illustration.

The chapters in this multiauthor text cover the principal areas of endocrinology with the exception of diabetes mellitus, which is addressed in a separate book. The writing is authoritative and up-to-date. In keeping with the pictorial emphasis, many pages are devoted to the radiology of endocrine disease, the imaging of the pituitary gland and the hypothalamus, and nuclear medicine imaging.

The slides are primarily a teaching tool and will be of interest mainly to academic endocrinologists. When the atlas was tried for several months in a medical school setting, many of the slides proved effective in lectures to housestaff and students. Most useful were the diagrams showing complex hormonal relationships and the photographs of the clinical manifestations of endocrine disease. The tables and lists were less useful; given the wide availability of slide-making software, most teachers will probably choose to make their own text-containing slides to reflect more precisely the facts they wish to present to each audience. The quality of most of the diagrammatic slides and photographs was excellent; for example, the explanation of the triiodothyronine resin uptake test in Figures 15.14 and 15.15 was exceptionally clear, as was the demonstration of the progressive development of trophic hormone deficiency with expanding pituitary tumors in Figure 2.9.

The emphasis on visual and pictorial presentation has inevitable drawbacks. Less detail can be provided in the text because the available space is decreased. This problem is magnified by uneven coverage of topics. For example, 8 pages are devoted to the manifestations and treatment of growth hormone deficiency in adults (an admittedly experimental and controversial question), and only 2 pages are given to all other aspects of the treatment of hypopituitarism. Five slides show the effect of bromocriptine in lowering serum prolactin levels, but none show the differential diagnosis of hyperprolactinemia. An excellent 14-page review of normal ovarian physiology is followed by a scant 3-page description of the polycystic ovary syndrome and androgen-producing tumors.

One small, easily corrected annoyance: The spine of each slide binder indicates only the unit number. To find a topic, one must pull each binder from the shelf and inspect the front cover.

Clinical Endocrinology is not a replacement for standard, more comprehensive textbooks in endocrinology. But it can be recommended as a supplementary resource that provides many handsome illustrations for study and slides for teaching.