Fundamentals of Cryobiology

The best way to become acquainted with a subject is to write a book about it. BenjaminDisraeli Cryobiologyisatruemultidisciplinaryscienceinvolvingconceptsfrombiology, medicine, and physics. Its ?eld comprises the study of any biologicalobject or system (e. g. , proteins, cells, tissues, organs, or organisms) under the temp- atures below the normal (ranging from hypothermic conditions to cryogenic temperatures): cold-adaptation of organisms; cryoconservation of biological objects; conservation of organs under hypothermic conditions; lyophilization; cryosurgery. Origins of cryobiology could be traced down to ancient Eg- tians; probably the ?rst scienti?c account of this science is the monograph by Sir Robert Boyle ¿New Experiments and Observations Touching Cold¿ (London, 1683). Twentieth century witnessed a rapid development of cryo- ologyrelatedtotheprogressofthecryogenicequipment(closedsystemsbased on liquid nitrogen, Joule¿Tohomson cooling with mixed gases, etc. ), devel- ments of monitoring techniques, extension of the list of diseases that have been successfully treated by cryomedicine, and consolidation of research by foundation (simultaneously in 1964) of two major scienti?c societies in this ?eld ¿ The Society for Cryobiology and The Society for Low Temperature Biology. There are a lot of good books on cryobiologythat can be divided into two groups: (1) the ones that treat the whole ?eld of cryobiology ¿ these ones are somewhatout-of-dateand(2)thebooksonspeci?capplicationsofcryobiology such as cryosurgery or cryoconservation.