R.C. Read

Abdominal Wall Hernias is the most up-to-date, comprehensive reference on all aspects of hernia repair. The editor, a world renowned figure in hernia surgery, has assembled a group of more than 120 experts from 16 countries to discuss state-of-the-art approaches to conventional open repairs using both tissue-to-tissue techniques as well as the use of prosthetic mesh, to the various minimally invasive approaches, the repair of recurrent and massive hernias, the pertinent anatomy, basic science, and emerging biomaterials. The authors present the full spectrum of operations and procedures to enable the reader to gain a broad knowledge of the multifaceted repair of inguinal, groin, and femoral hernias and chose the best technique. Richly illustrated with more than 700 line drawings and photographs, this textbook is a must-have reference for all practicing general surgeons and surgeons-in-training.

In 1937 there appeared a paper that was to have a profound influence on the progress of combinatorial enumeration, both in its theoretical and applied aspects. Entitled Kombinatorische Anzahlbest- immungen jUr Gruppen, Graphen und chemische Verbindungen, it was published in Acta Mathematica, Vol. 68, pp. 145 to 254. Its author, George Polya, was already a mathematician of considerable stature, well-known for outstanding work in many branches of mathematics, particularly analysis. The paper in Question was unusual in that it depended almost entirely on a single theorem -- the "Hauptsatz" of Section 4 -- a theorem which gave a method for solving a general type of enumera- tion problem. On the face of it, this is not something that one would expect to run to over 100 pages. Yet the range of the applica- tions of the theorem and of its ramifications was enormous, as Polya clearly showed. In the various sections of his paper he explored many applications to the enumeration of graphs, principally trees, and of chemical isomers, using his theorem to present a comprehen- sive and unified treatment of problems which had previously been solved, if at all, only by ad hoc methods. In the final section he investigated the asymptotic properties of these enumerational results, bringing to bear his formidable insight as an analyst.

Abdominal Wall Hernias is the most up-to-date, comprehensive reference on all aspects of hernia repair. The editor, a world renowned figure in hernia surgery, has assembled a group of more than 120 experts from 16 countries to discuss state-of-the-art approaches to conventional open repairs using both tissue-to-tissue techniques as well as the use of prosthetic mesh, to the various minimally invasive approaches, the repair of recurrent and massive hernias, the pertinent anatomy, basic science, and emerging biomaterials. The authors present the full spectrum of operations and procedures to enable the reader to gain a broad knowledge of the multifaceted repair of inguinal, groin, and femoral hernias and chose the best technique. Richly illustrated with more than 700 line drawings and photographs, this textbook is a must-have reference for all practicing general surgeons and surgeons-in-training.