When one thinks of all of the longhand calculations being performed in clinical laboratories, it is obvious how a computer could be a time-saving accessory which also would obviate human transcription or calculation errors. It is well established that computer techniques are applicable to the clinical laboratory, but cost has prevented utilization on anything but a trial basis, usually grantsupported. The advent of the programmable electronic calculator now makes available to any clinical laboratory a relatively inexpensive "mini-computer."
It is the declared intention of this book, which stems from a workshop held in 1969, to introduce the novice to the medical laboratory application of programmable calculators. The first chapter, entitled "Why Mini-Computers?", provides an excellent introduction to the potentials and limitations of the desktop calculator and how it relates to large computers.
The second chapter deals with the actual application of the mini-computer in the clinical chemistry laboratory and its