Incorporates the dramatic research developments regarding the ovarian life cycle within the past decade. It looks at ovarian function from a detailed molecular and cellular level. The updated chapters, along with the new material, represent an unparalleled compilation of chapters relevant to contemporary ovarian physiology. The book is divided into 8 sections: The Ovarian Follicular Apparatus: Operational Characteristics; Oocyte Maturation and Ovulation; The Corpus Luteum; Putative Intraovarian Regulators; Cyclic Ovarian Cell Death; Novel Experimental Models; Human Ovarian Pathophysiology: Select Aspects; and Human Ovarian Surface Epithelium and Neoplasia.