Handbook of Speech Pathology: Edited by Lee Edward Travis. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, Inc. 1957. 1088 pp.

The size of this book is striking as an objective fact and noteworthy as an interpretative phenomenon. A handbook is usually defined as a compact reference book on some subject. This work, containing thirty-three chapters by twenty-seven authorities in the various areas of speech pathology, appears rather as a volume of reference material of encyclopedic scope. The editor explains the bulk on the basis that speech pathology has grown beyond the grasp of any one man. Apparently the editor's aim was encyclopedic as he uses such terms as 'the whole field' and 'in relatively complete fashion'. However, there appears to me to be quite a different basis for the length. This is particularly true in the area of the functional speech disorders. In essence my criticism here pertains to the current scientific position of academic and clinical psychology to which most of these authors adhere. This position consists, as is well known, of an eschewing of any theoretical frame of reference with the resultant accumulation of an endless collection of heterogeneous 'data'.

The book is divided into four parts. Part I, occupying one quarter of the volume, is devoted to basic considerations on speech pathology. It deals impressively with the facts and theories of the development of speech; an extensive array of terminology and nomenclature; a very creditable selection of the relevant neurophysiology; the physics, mathematics, and instruments dealing with acoustics, speech and sound formation—a huge field of technical knowledge that can only be used for purposes of reference by the already initiated. The concluding chapters are concerned with the incidence and methods of evaluation and diagnosis of speech disorders. After a large display of forms and data sheets, it is concluded that 'perhaps as precipitating conditions become better known and universally accepted, more standardized testing procedures can be recommended. In