The tenth edition is an important milestone in the life of a textbook. This occasion is a propitious time to look back on the origins of Basic Pathology， which are summed up best by quoting Stanley Robbins from the preface of the first edition （1971）：
　　"Of books as well as men， it may be observed that fat ones contain thin ones struggling to get out. In a sense， this book bears such a relationship to its more substantial progenitor， Robbins Pathology. It arose from an appreciation of the modem medical student's dilemma. As the curriculum has become restructured to place greater emphasis on clinical experience， time for reading is correspondingly curtailed...In writing this book， rare and esoteric lesions are omitted without apology， and infrequent or trivial ones described only briefly. We felt it important， however， to consider rather fully the major disease entities."
　　While the goals of "baby Robbins" remain true to the vision of Stanley Robbins， this edition has been revised on the basis of a few additional principles.