This is a difficult book to review. It contains a large amount of excellent material, along with even larger amounts of dubious value. With the increasing influence computers are making on all aspects of medical practice, the computer-naive practitioner needs a single source to which to turn for an overview. Dr Solomon's book tries to be such a source, with virtually every aspect of computer use in medicine discussed. What is lacking is some sense of perspective. I had the impression that this book had been written in a stream-of-consciousness style, with ideas thrown out as fast as they occurred to the author.
There are brief synopses of such topics as computer-assisted diagnosis, computers and imaging, and computer-interpreted electrocardiograms, which are excellent for their length but which deserve more extensive treatment. At the same time, 50 pages list in its entirety one programmed medical history. Similarly, 43 pages are devoted