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Medicine and Books

When the latest (second) edition of the massive three-volume work on Otolaryngology, edited by Paparella and Shumrick, alighted-if that can be the correct term for an 8 kg batch of books-on my desk I fell to musing on whether such large encyclopaedic works still have a useful role in current medical education. Firstly let me say that on brief acquaintance this contribution seems to be a magnificent achievement-a tribute to the skills and energies of its two main editors, its two consulting editors, and its cast of 49 internationally renowned contributors. The index to all three volumes runs to 106 pages, and is repeated at the end of each-a valuable and welcome feature. This trilogy goes as far as any of its size can to minimise the reservations that I have about all such mammoths.