COMPREHENSIVE PHYSIOLOGY (CP) is a review journal that originated out of the old book series Handbook of Physiology. This is a collection of reviews covering the breadth of physiology that represents state-of-the-art knowledge of physiological systems that go beyond what can be found in medical textbooks. This Editorial provides an explanation for how this journal could be used as a tool for advanced education in biomedical sciences for graduate students as well as basic science and clinical

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... lows. Whenever I am asked about how I developed an interest in physiology, I recall my undergraduate course in human physiology, where we used Guyton's Textbook of Medical Physiology. There was something about reading this book and being fascinated with the complexities of how the human body functions that captured my interest and desire to learn more. That book still sits on the shelf in my office. When I arrived in graduate school and began my career in research, this book no longer provided the level of information that I needed to get up to speed with other investigators in my field of research. Of course, the primary literature, located within the library in those days, became my friend. However, one of the major challenges was that even then the literature was larger than one person with my limited experience could manage. Fortunately, I had the Handbook of Physiology. The Handbook of Physiology is a collection of review articles published in a series of books. Each volume included state-of-the-art reviews from leaders in the field. Books were published every few years and would cover the entirety of a particular topic primarily focused on the major organ systems. For my own area, renal physiology, the initial 1973 volume was filled with important details not in the textbook, although there were some aspects that were not up to date by the time I started using it in 1979. Nonetheless, it gave me valuable advanced knowledge that was not available in the textbooks. Furthermore, this collection of reviews covered every topic area within the field of renal physiology. The Handbook of Physiology for renal physiology was not updated again until 1992. So today, this book is no longer state of the art, even though this older content still provides valuable historical information and detail not covered in textbooks. Given that publishing a multiauthor textbook can take several years to assemble, the American Physiological Society decided to transform this book series into an online review journal, now known as CP. Today, scientific publishing has expanded at an astonishing rate, and review articles are everywhere. When entering a new field of study, whether as a trainee or an established investigator seeking to expand the scope of their work, finding a source of complete, reliable, up-to-date information can be a Measurement of renal function Beierwaltes WH, Harrison-Bernard LM, Sullivan JC, Mattson DL. Assessment of renal function; clearance, the renal microcirculation, renal blood flow, and metabolic balance. Compr Physiol 3: 165-200, 2013. Lorenz JN. Micropuncture of the kidney: a primer on techniques. Compr Physiol 2: 621-637, 2012. Stockand JD, Vallon V, Ortiz P. In vivo and ex vivo analysis of tubule function.