This is the story of steroid-protein interactions as one investigator
sees it. Following the general concept of this monograph series, it
emphasizes the results and interpretations obtained in the author's
laboratory, and is therefore a subjective account. Recognizing, how-
ever, that the discussion of the subject would be incomplete if the
material were limited to one scientist's work, the essential achieve-
ments of other investigators have been incorporated. An effort has thus
been made to give a balanced presentation and to enable the reader to
see in perspective the varied facets of the interactions between
steroids and proteins. Since this is the first comprehensive treatment
of the topic, it seems appropriate to go to the roots, and try to find
out how it all started. The first chapters, therefore, take the reader
to the laboratories of those who very early conceived the significance
of the attachment of dyes, drugs, and other conspicuous molecules to
those colloids called proteins. The discovery of the steroid hormones
set the stage for meaningful investigation of their interaction with
proteins of various origins and functions - a process which is
continuing today with increasing vigor.