The authors provide a comprehensive introduction to audiology for students and clinicians in audiology and related professions. The textbook has a favourable layout: chapters are organised logically and begin with a set of learning objectives providing a preview of what comes next.
Larger chapters are broken up with synopses of content covered and a final summary is provided at the end of each chapter. The layout is helpful for students learning the material for the first time. The style of writing is engaging, especially in the anatomy chapter where authors encourage you to learn by tracing with your own fingers the landmarks on your ear. My main complaint is the unsatisfactory quality of the diagrams which are all black and white. As it is difficult at times to make out labels and details on the figures, coloured illustrations with higher specifications are worth considering for the next edition.
As this text is introductory, there is not much reference to current research; however, many references are made to previous research where the findings have defined the practice of audiology today. Lastly, an important consideration of the textbook’s relevance is to recognise that the authors write from an American perspective.
Therefore, as a UK clinician, many of the acronyms used and normative test result ranges listed may be unfamiliar or confusing for new audiology students in the UK. Additionally, the first part of the textbook is focused solely on audiology in the US. This is fine for American readers or if it is of interest.
Overall, the textbook is informative and easy to read. However, I feel this textbook would be most useful in a secondary manner to complement more thorough texts.
