Psychiatry

is set out in a conventional way, each bodily system having a chapted given to it. There is also a chapter on the units of measurement needed to describe physical quantities. On first inspection, the text and diagrams look very familiar and to a certain extent the approach to each facet is quite conventional. No subject is treated in a very superficial manner. However, I suspect that the beginner might find the wealth of detail somewhat excessive. So many new words and new terms are introduced on every page that the beginner might find himself overwhelmed by the detail and miss the more fundamental essence of each particular system. However, the author makes the point that the facts required to understand the science of medicine can not be obtained without very hard work. As he states: "Professional excellence in a medical field has always been achieved slowly, by hours of study and work, and has been built on a rock-solid foundation of basic science". This book should give the student the facts on which he can base his understanding of the subject, if and when he has the time and ability to digest them. lR PSYCHIATRY. PROFESSOR Sir William Trethowan has revised and largely rewritten this short textbook The previous editions appeared under the name of Professor E. W. Anderson, formerly Professor of Psychiatry at Manchester. The latter was well known for his knowledge and experience of German psychiatry gained during a lengthy period of post graduate study in that country just before World War II. This led him to become one of the foremost exponents of phenomenology in Britain. As defined by Karl Jaspers, who can be considered as the leader of the phenomenological school, phenomenology means, in effect, putting oneself into the patient's person, in order to understand as intimately and in as much detail as possible, the nature of the patient's mental experience. It also means portraying in words the nature of the experience as subtly and accurately as possible, while, at the same time, defining it in appropriate technical terms and differentiating it from other kinds of experience. This is an empirical procedure which takes place at a conscious level. Professor Anderson used Karl Jaspers approach in previous editions of this textbook. Professor Trethowan, who collaborated with the last twol editions, was a pupil of Professor Anderson. Though the textbook has been largely rewritten , the …