The scope of contemporary forensic medicine has evolved to the point where the medicolegally oriented pathologist is frequently called upon to examine and autopsy deaths that, until recently, would either have been autopsied by a hospital-based pathologist or, more probably, not have been autopsied at all. Issues such as medical negligence, injury causation, liability, workplace safety, and iatrogenic complications of therapy now necessitate the inclusion of the forensic pathologist, who, among physicians, usually has the greatest experience in melding the often divergent medical and jurispru- dential viewpoints. To facilitate this best, the pathologist needs the proper training and tools, like any craftsman. A recently published resource, Pulmonary Pathology, edited by Dial and Hammar, is clearly an exemplary addition to the pathologist's tool chest.