Our international contributors, who represent 15 countries, now make up 25% of authors of the fifth edition. We are indebted and deeply appreciative of the hard work and dedication of all our authors, nearly half of whom are new to the textbook.

As for each edition, new authors have been recruited to provide new perspectives and our continuing authors have thoroughly updated their chapters. These include chapters on genetics, asthma, particle deposition and clearance, innate immunity, lung injury and repair, pulmonary pathology, bronchoscopy (diagnostic and therapeutic), ultrasonography, pulmonary function testing, clinical exercise testing, respiratory impairment and disability, ventilator-associated pneumonia, lymphoma, occupational asthma, bioterrorism, nontuberculous mycobacterial disease, pulmonary vasculitis, sleep disorders, neuromuscular disease, lung transplantation, metastatic lung disease and the biology of non-small cell lung cancer. We are mindful that we are trying to meet the educational needs of an increasingly global and sophisticated readership. An active and regularly updated internet site is an integral part of the textbook, expanding, revising and supporting information from the printed pages.

The locations of numerous instructional videos, which can be accessed at the textbookвЂ™s website, are indicated by icons in the printed textbook. Color photographs and illustrations have been incorporated into the chapters wherever possible.

Key points distilled from each subject are now highlighted at the end of each chapter. Chapters have been created to cover new topics, other chapters have been split into two to cover topics more thoroughly, and still other chapters have been merged to improve presentation of similar material. To accomplish this in a rapidly changing field, we have undertaken significant changes for the fifth edition. As it has been from the beginning, the goal of this textbook is to be a well balanced, authoritative, and fully documented book that integrates the basic scientific principles with the practice of respiratory medicine for clinicians, trainees, students and educators.

Murray and nadel textbook