In the preface there is a quote from Nathan W. Shock that should serve as the guiding light for books such as this: "To prolong longevity is not a worthy goal of gerontology. To reduce the detrimental effects of aging is very much a worthwhile goal." At this point, one is hopeful that a worthwhile effort will be forthcoming.
Here at last, is someone who realizes the great importance of impaired hearing in the aged and the tremendous impact that handicap imparts to practically every phase of life.
Two short sentences later, however, we are told that to study aging we must study the entire life span. This pronouncement suddenly casts us into the realm of what promise to be, and often are, academic exercises designed to produce dissertations. The major fault with the work presented is that while addressing real clinical problems, the approach has been academic, ie, the