At the time the first edition was written, there was a need for a well -referenced text to interpret and analyze current scientific knowledge in clinical practice and to provide a clinically applicable text in the musculoskeletal area of physiotherapy that was academically rigorous. The second edition builds upon the foundation provided in the first edition and introduces new material in areas previsouly lacking in evidence.The second edition uses a similar approach to that of the first edition. That is, the evidence is examined and application to the clinical setting discussed. In the first edition, the paradigm of contemoprary physiotherapy practice was explored . In the second more detailed information is presented about the explicit and implicit assumptions which form the basis of current practice.