Preface

The first edition of the Color Atlas of Pediatric Dermatology was published in 1975, during the very infancy of our specialty. The book was the product of three brilliant physicians, Drs. Samuel Weinberg, Morris Leider, and Lewis Shapiro, and each brought a unique talent to its creation.

Dr. Shapiro was a dermatopathologist, dermatologist, and highly regarded teacher at Columbia University. For the early editions, he contributed beautiful photomicrographs to accompany the clinical pictures. His contributions to the book in its earliest stages, and to the dermatopathology literature as a whole, are of great value.

Dr. Leider was an illustrious and longtime member of the Department of Dermatology at New York University. He was a wonderful family friend during my early childhood, and he gave me the first edition of the book as a medical school graduation gift in 1975 (NSP). Dr. Leider was the author of a dermatologic dictionary and prided himself on the literary use of words in the medical context. His unique and flowery writing style can still be found in various nooks and crannies of the book, and a particularly wonderful example is located beneath Fig. 16-36.

Dr. Weinberg was one of the founding members of the Society for Pediatric Dermatology and was for many years the Chief of Pediatric Dermatology at Bellevue Hospital in New York. The Color Atlas of Pediatric Dermatology was of enormous importance to him throughout his whole life, and he guided its content in a remarkably knowledgeable and thoughtful fashion. He was a wonderful teacher, mentor, and friend to both of us for many years and we sorely missed his insight and humor during the preparation of this edition.

In Dr. Leider's foreword to the first edition of the atlas, we are given a wonderful insight into the special and, we imagine, laughter-filled relationship of these physicians and into their method of conflict resolution. Dr. Leider wrote, "We will spare the reader the gory details of our violent arguments by saying that all contended matter was settled by a 'majority of one' by Dr. Shapiro when it was purely histologic, by Dr. Leider when it was purely literary, and by Dr. Weinberg when it was purely pediatric. For the rest, a true majority ruled."

We are delighted that the Color Atlas of Pediatric Dermatology has been in print for over 40 years and are proud to be part of this long tradition. Once again, we ask the reader to bear in mind that this volume is not a textbook and that it should be used in conjunction with one of the several comprehensive references in pediatric dermatology. It is our hope that this atlas will be of practical use to all health practitioners who are involved in the care of children.