As part of its program metamorphosis, The National Foundation in July, 1960, sponsored the first World Wide Conference on Congenital Malformations in London. This volume makes available all the original presentations in toto and edited versions of the discussions and addresses —all in English. The roster of attendees at the conference—as might be expected—serves as a formidable jumping-off point to start a "Who's Who" of the field; the quality of the material is equally impressive.
The brief introduction points to the enormity of the problem. This is followed by a particularly well-done consideration of incidence and its implications. Here the first paper, by a biostatistician, keynotes the tone of the entire conference, critically reviewing recent advances and current concepts. Once facts and fiction of this aspect have been adroitly handled, subsequent sections evolve focusing on genetics, environment, developmental mechanisms, teratogenic agents, maternal-fetal interaction, "practical problems," and perspectives for the future.