Over the years, I have experienced a lifting of the spirit whenever I encounter books in the “Recent advances in paediatrics” series, and the year 2000 edition is the eighteenth in the succession, which suggests that many paediatricians, young and old, find the series worth acquiring.

The formula is simple: a dozen or so essays on a topical matter by an acknowledged expert in a field, often written with the assistance of a junior colleague, followed by a review of the recent papers …