Description

Foreword
by Professor J. H. Middlemiss,
Department of Radiodiagnosis,
The Medical School,
University of Bristol
This book, for so long and so deservedly, has been a favourite and reliable guide
for any person undergoing training in diagnostic radiology whether that person be

doctor or technician. This new, largely re-written edition is even more comprehen-
sive. And yet throughout the book simplicity of presentation is maintained.

Professor G. J. van der Plaats has been well known to radiologists in the English-
speaking world for more than three decades. He has been, and still is, respected by

them for his vision, his thoroughness, determination and meticulous attention to
detail and for his unremitting enthusiasm. The standard of radiography in the
Netherlands throughout this period has been recognised as being of the highest
quality, and this has, in no small measure, been due to the pattern set by Professor
van der Plaats and his colleagues.
As radiology has developed and grown, as new techniques have been devised, as
apparatus has become more complex and sophisticated, as automation has been
introduced, so has there been a tendency for both radiologist and radiographer,
especially those in training, to become divorced from the fundamental essentials
of their work. The exotic attracts and often there does not seem to be any glamour
in the basic concepts and the basic practices through which radiology has passed
and out of which modern radiology has grown. Yet it is only by having a complete
understanding of the basic practices that modern radiology can exist or can expect
to develop even further. In this book Professor van der Plaats guides the beginner
with great expertise and with consummate interest through all the fundamental
problems step by step, dealing in turn with every aspect of the technical factors

involved in the production of X-ray images. As automation has invaded our dark-
rooms there are radiographers qualifying in some industrialised countries who

have never performed and in some cases have never even seen hand processing. The
author has forgotten nothing. He takes the learner through all the fundamental
aspects of processing with a wealth of practical wisdom and experience.