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Investigations of the oxygen carriers range from the
characterization of natural populations to measurements of tenths
of nanometer distances between atoms. The scope is so great that
few biologists and biochemists can fully comprehend the primary
literature in its entirety. In addition, the findings of the past
two or three decades have advanced the field so rapidly that a
truly current account is not readily accessible to a general
audience. In recognition of the problem a symposium was held and
its proceedings published in the American Zoologist in 1980.
Although it included several research reports, most of the
contributions were intended to summarize then state-of-the-art
information on molecular structure and respiratory function at a
level that could be understood by biologists and biochemists who
are not experts on our subject. Judging from the reprint requests
with which the authors were inundated, the assessment of need had
been accurate. I believe that the need for an update, which is
wholly focused on communication to the general audience, is even
greater in 1992. I therefore asked the authors of this volume to
address individuals who might otherwise turn in vain to an advanced
textbook of physiology or biochemistry. I have, of course,
requested a more comprehensive coverage than would be possible in a
general text, but one that is not more parochial. Just as textbooks
differ vastly in the level at which their subject matter is
presented, so the level of non-expertise was conceived differently
by the contributors to this volume.
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