This volume may very well be the first systematic source critical commentary on the Babylonian Talmud, with the exception perhaps of the relatively small book , Darka shel Torah, by H. M. Pineles, whose agenda was more to defend the content of the Mishnah than to explore Talmudic thinking. Now, after the appearance of the eighth volume, it is even more apparent how comprehensive is the method laid out in the first volume, covering different topics and a variety of texts and how it eventually led to the theory of the Stammaim which, according to some revolutionized our understanding of the composition of the Babylonian Talmud. It is an indispensable introduction to an alternate way of studying Talmud.