In the 50s, when otolaryngology was at a low ebb as a specialty, otology was the one area that revitalized the field. There was rapid proliferation of surgical techniques and procedures. Stuart Mawson wrote the first edition of this book in 1963, at which time new otological operations seemed to be appearing at each medical meeting. Since then the wave of new surgical procedures has crested. Techniques have been refined, but there has been nothing like the fenestration of Lempert and Sourdille, the tympanoplasty of Zollner and Wullstein, or the stapedectomy of Shea. Now, while the otological surgeons catch their breath, the less heralded but equally important otological basic scientists in audiology, histology, physiology, and biochemistry are making steady gains. Mawson points this out in his preface and attempts to incorporate these newer advances without altering the previous excellent text. The drawings, superb supplements to the text, are simple line