At one time aspirin and cellophane were trademarks. The manufacturers lost the copyright because the products were too successful. Howard Rusk is in danger of joining them; his name is already a synonym for physical medicine and rehabilitation in many circles. The first edition of his textbook, Rehabilitation Medicine, set a standard against which all other books on physical medicine must be measured. Applying this criterion, the second edition earns high grades.
The book is organized into two sections. The first discusses the principles of rehabilitation medicine. The word "rehabilitation" is rightly stressed, because this book is more than a mere manual of applied physical therapy. This section is of historic importance; the philosophic principles developed during and after the second World War which created a new approach and then a new specialty are much in evidence. History and examination, exercises, physical and occupational therapy, supportive and self-help devices, and