ABSTRACT
In this chapter, we ~ketch rather lightly some of the different points of view, the investigative methods, and the emerging ideas of the past 40 years' search for reference values needed in medical practice. Although clinical needs have always been the prime movers in this search, statistical methods were involved from the beginning, as in all studies of human variation. Both medical and statistical practice have changed considerably during these years, influenced by advances in research and technology. But reference values, whatever form they may assume in one clinical situation or another, remain fundamental to medical practice because they reflect human variability in health and disease.
