To commemorate the 50th Anniversary of Sir William Osler's death, the editors of this text decided to collect, republish, and provide commentary on 14 essays by Osler not available in other anthologies. They selected 12 distinguished contributors to aid them in preparing a critique of each essay, all of which deal in the broadest sense with various aspects of medical education.
Writing this review is like rendering an opinion on the Bible or motherhood: to praise works of Osler would be customary, to criticize them, heresy. Nevertheless, the book does underscore "Osler's depth of scholarship, his profound insight, and his philosophical, moral and humanistic orientation" (Warner Wells, p 342). The reading requires more than usual concentration, and the material presented will appeal to a relatively small audience composed chiefly of Osler fans and others interested in medical education. With a few exceptions, the commentaries are superfluous.