4
NOTE: This foreword of the 16th Edition of THE MERCK MANUAL contains
page references not applicable to the book card.
It has been 93 years since THE MERCK MANUAL first appeared in 1899 as a
slender 262-page text titled MERCK’S MANUAL OF THE MATERIA MEDICA.
It was expressly designed to meet the needs of general practitioners in selecting
medications, noting that “memory is treacherous” and that even the most thor-
oughly informed physician needs a reminder “to make him at once master of the
situation and enable 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 established fa-
vorite 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 pri-
mary purpose remains the same—to provide useful clinical information to practic-
ing 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 spectrum of current and accurate information. Specialists require precise in-
formation about subjects outside their areas of expertise. 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 cellular and molecu-
lar 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, from a disease orientation,
THE MANUAL covers all but the most obscure disorders of mankind, not only
Foreword
