This work is not only a historical review of this science, but is liberally interspersed with anecdotal vignettes of the researchers who have worked on this organ. Much of it, such as the discovery of the duct of Wirsung, of the islets of Langerhans, of insulin, gastrin and their tumours, reads like an adventure. The book, divided into 14 chapters, is written in a narrative style and is easily readable, as glimpses of the investigators, those who failed as well as those who succeeded, adds both perspective and human interest.