This volume is based on presentations at the fifth course on perinatal medicine held in the International School of Medical Sciences at the Ettore Majorana Centre for Scientific Culture in Erice, Sicily, in March 1996. It has had a prolonged gestation, but the presentations have been updated and thus the book will benefit perinatologists internationally.The introductory lecture, by philosopher Donald Evans, is of great interest, discussing the issues which all those involved in reproductive medicine, in its widest sense, are dealing with all the time but seldom think about or put in context. Subsequent papers deal with understanding the development and management of the fetus and newborn along lines which represent real progress in perinatal medicine. The epilogue, based on a seminar, will be a help to all those Europeans and others struggling to present their work in English language journals and books.