Bridging the gap between the ancient art of herbalism and the emerging sciences of ethnopharmocology and phytopharmacotherapy, this book highlights the major breakthroughs in the history of the field and focuses on future directions in the discovery and application of herb-derived medicines. Implementing the concept of reverse pharmacology, it integrates documented clinical and experiential "hits" into pharmacological leads by transdisciplinary exploratory studies. It further develops these into drug candidates by experimental and clinical research.