Book excerpt: How do mammals manage to maintain their body temperature within the same narrow range in environments as different as polar regions and hot deserts? This advanced text describes the morphological features and physiological mechanisms by which humans and other mammals maintain their body temperature within a narrow range despite large variations in climatic conditions and internal heat production. Its 19 chapters deal with the physics of heat exchange with the environment, and the autonomic and behavioural mechanisms available to control the loss and production of heat. The neuronal basis of temperature regulation and current concepts of the central nervous interface between temperature signals generated in the body and control mechanisms are examined in detail. This book is of invaluable help for undergraduates, postgraduates, teachers, physicians and scientists.