Rehabilitation medicine has, in the past fifteen years, made notable advances, mainly as a result of the increasing incidence of chronic diseases and disabilities in all age ranges. Techniques utilized in its practice have, of necessity, been largely empirically derived, but, despite this, rehabilitation is now well established as an important component of contemporary medical care. There is a great need, however, for employment of the scientific method and objective analysis for the procedures utilized in its practice. Therefore, the appearance of the second volume in the Physical Medicine Library is doubly welcome, since it undertakes a thorough analysis of probably one of the widest physical therapeutic agents used in medicine—heat.
Twenty-three American and European contributors with diverse experience have created a scholarly discourse, encompassing basic physics, physiology, therapeutics, instrumentation, and clinical applications in a variety of syndromes. Each of the authors is expert, thorough, and critical and presents his