Richard Mattesich is Professor Emeritus of Accounting at the Sauder School of Business, University of British Columbia, Canada. He has received many awards and is profiled in such works as Edward’s Twentieth Century Accounting Thinkers, Chatfield’s and Vangermeersch’s A History of Accounting - An International Encyclopedia, and Colasse’s Les Grands Auteurs en Comptabilité.
'The title of this book suggests a seemingly impossible task. The fact that it has been accomplished by an octogenarian (with assistance of co-authors for particular areas) is a remarkable tribute to his enduring intellectual energy. The ability to transcend intellectual barriers is partly the result of a long and versatile career!Hence we can be grateful to the author for what is likely to remain a unique contribution to the accounting literature.' -- Professor Geoffrey Whittington, The Accounting Review 'The value and importance of this work cannot be over-stressed--it is an important and significant work. As claimed, it fills a gap in the literature, and for that we must give thanks to the editors of the Routledge new works in accounting history for choosing to include this book as part of their series, but more particularly, to Mattessich himself for his efforts in bringing this work to fruition during his 'retirement'...Future generations of accounting historians and those interested in the development of accounting will be forever in Mattessich's debt; his foresight in conducting the research underlying this work and his high level of academic scholarship mean that it is unlikely to be surpassed for a long time.' -- Professor Trevor Boyns, European Accounting Review 'This book is an extremely valuable addition to the accounting literature, and is a tribute to Mattessich and the scholarship that he has pursued for more than fifty years. He has certainly proved to be a major contributor to accounting thought not only as a methodologist and historian but as a teacher, and this book demonstrated the breadth of that scholarship. It is highly recommended for all serious would-be accounting scholars.' -- Professor Michael Gaffikin, Accounting History