Since its introduction in 1967 with 324 pages, Alexander A. Fisher's Contact Dermatitis has been the one essential text for American dermatologists who see patients with contact dermatitis. Now in its fifth edition with 1117 pages, and written for the second time by Robert L. Rietschel and Joseph F. Fowler, it still is.
Dr Fisher wrote the first 2 editions (1967 and 1973) himself. In the third edition he invited coauthors, and although the book doubled in size, it maintained its signature: boxed summary statements on most pages, numerous tables, lots of folksy anecdotes, scads of practical information, an accessible style, no chemical formulas to speak of, and no pictures (the ones in the first and second editions were not good).