Book Review: International Symposium on the Electrophysiology of the Heart

It is impossible for any one reviewer to do justice to a work of this kind, as it would take many months of serious study to work through it. The reviewer, however, tried the 'diagonal reading' method, page by page, to try and get a fair idea how the material was treated. It is obvious that the authors spared no effort in the collection of their material; references are given at the end of each chapter amounting altogether to about 6,000 titles. Whilst not wanting to detract from the value of the work, especially as there is no comparable publication available in the English language, I would like to put forward one or two points of criticism. It would make for much easier reading if, in the text itself, reference numbers only were quoted without the authors' names. As it is, some pages show a distinct resemblance to the rows of doorplates on some Harley Street houses. (See for example page 688, where over 50 names are quoted all in capital letters.) It is difficult at times to see what criteria were used to print or suppress a name and it is also open to misunderstanding. My other point of criticism is the superficial treatment given to the chapter of practical 'tuning fork tests' where absolute bone conduction (ABC) Schwabach and Steger tests &c., are not mentioned even in a historical context. Few people in this country would agree with the statement that 'only the Rinne and Weber tests appear still to be useful'. The book should be available for reference in every otological library. G GRUNBERGER