The publication of yet another "edited by" book, albeit by two well-known physicianwriters鈥攁nd their 15 additional contributors 鈥攑laces a reviewer on the alert. Volumes of this type have been known to vary in degree from an excellent textbook by experts which the editor has carefully chosen to discuss their specific specialties, and to the report of a round table conference on a single subject by invited guests connected with a hospital, clinic, or university. The former requires an able editor who, by his reputation, attracts other men of prominence and experience as contributors; the latter requires merely a good tape recorder, a proficient stenographer, and a capable newspaper rewrite man. Both formats, however, run the risk of each author, or speaker, expressing his own dogmatic opinion in his own style. All this may result in a conflict in viewpoint, a repetition of material, and a variance in mode of expression.