Nearly two hundred years ago Crawford and Cruickshank, surgeons and chemists in the Royal Artillery, reported the occurrence of a "new earth" in the mines at the Scottish village of Strontian. Humphrey Davy, following the advice of Berzelius, isolated stable strontium in 1808 along with other alkali earth metals. It was not until 1883 that physiological effects of stable strontium were first recognized by none other than Sidney Ringer in his experiments on frog heart. The medicinal use of strontium salts was first described in Squire's Companion in 1894. Subsequently, strontium was introduced into the Pharma­ copeias of Great Britain, United States, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, and Mexico and was used in treatment of a variety of disease. s, clearly without detailed knowledge of its actions. It is hoped that this handbook will provide a sound basis for further research on stable strontium and the establishment of the levels of intake, necessary or desirable, in different pathophysiological conditions. The objective of this publication was to assemble a comprehensive collection of essays on stable strontium which review the respective areas of research as well as present original data. I consider myself fortunate to have been able to work with the contributors of these essays. It is obvious that this type of book should be interdisciplinary in nature owing to the necessity of examining each subject from the viewpoint of different disciplines.