The late Professor Michael Shepherd was one of the most eminent and respected international figures in psychiatry. His contributions to the field in general were enormous but it is probably in epidemiological and social psychiatry that his work has had the greatest influence. Originally published in 1989, this volume of essays, written specifically in Professor Shepherd’s honour, is concerned with the scientific approach to epidemiological psychiatry. The distinguished contributors, many of whom were close colleagues or former students, were drawn from a conspicuously wide range of scientific disciplines, medical and non-medical, and their contributions reflect the far-reaching applications of epidemiological methods to mental health problems.