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The only pretentious aspect of this book is its title Brain Function and Metabolic Disorders; in fact, the book is confined to consideration of the neurological effects of changes in hydrogen ion concentration as described in its subtitle. This unassuming monograph is really an authoritative, comprehensive, and critical review of the effects of hydrogen ions and carbon dioxide upon the functioning of neurological tissue from isolated nerve fibers of invertebrates to the central nervous system of man. In the central nervous system there is a further complication in that certain synapses, particularly those in the brain stem reticular formation, are more sensitive to changes in carbon dioxide than others; in addition, changes in blood carbon dioxide concentration alter cerebral blood flow. The author has found it important to insist upon the basic notion that the internal pH of nervous tissue is independent of external hydrogen ion concentration but depends