Abstract: We review the background,basic methods, theoretical developments, and applications of acoustic logging,with particular emphasis on recent advances over the past ten years.With the development of dipole acoustic logging technology and surveys of formation anisotropy,new achievements have been made in basic theory and application methods.Various physical problems such as evanescent waves in boreholes and seismoelectric logging,which are relevant to future applications,are also discussed.Current problems and topics worthy of study in each of the above areas are also mentioned.A detailed bibliography is provided.