- Hardcover: 312 pages
- Publisher: Cambridge University Press (18 Aug 2003)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0521817595
- ISBN-13: 978-0521817592
- Product Dimensions: 23.1 x 15.5 x 1.5 cm
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 4,344,607 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Review
'Adam Burgess's fascinating and frequently polemical book highlights the perils of precautionary thinking.' The Lancet
'Burgess' book remains a salutary lesson in the social construction of fears, which will undoubtedly be used to inform similar episodes in the years ahead.' Spiked
'I found it thought-provoking and can strongly recommend it as a fascinating study of the interaction between science and society.' Tony Barker, consultant clinical scientist at Royal Hallamshire Hospital and chairman of the IEE's Policy Advisory Group on Biological Effects of Low-level Electromagnetic Fields
'… Burgess's study of mobile phones contains a general and worrying message of small or non-existent risk being emphasised to advance social policy and influence the direction of scientific research.' The British Medical Journal
'… Adam Burgess' important book is the first major work to examine the history and dynamics of the scare.' New Media and Society
'Burgess' book remains a salutary lesson in the social construction of fears, which will undoubtedly be used to inform similar episodes in the years ahead.' Spiked
'I found it thought-provoking and can strongly recommend it as a fascinating study of the interaction between science and society.' Tony Barker, consultant clinical scientist at Royal Hallamshire Hospital and chairman of the IEE's Policy Advisory Group on Biological Effects of Low-level Electromagnetic Fields
'… Burgess's study of mobile phones contains a general and worrying message of small or non-existent risk being emphasised to advance social policy and influence the direction of scientific research.' The British Medical Journal
'… Adam Burgess' important book is the first major work to examine the history and dynamics of the scare.' New Media and Society
Product Description
This is the first account of the health panic surrounding cellular phones that developed in the mid-1990s. Treating the issue as more 'social construction' than evident scientific problem, it tells the story of how this originally American anxiety diffused internationally, having an even bigger impact in countries such as Italy. Burgess highlights the contrasting reactions to the issue ranging from positive indifference in Finland to those such as the UK where precautionary measures were taken. These differences are located within the emergence of a precautionary culture driven by institutional insecurity that first appeared in the US and is now most evident in Europe. Anxieties about cell phone radiowaves are also situated historically in the very different reactions to technologies such as x-rays and in the more similar 'microwave suspicions' about television. In addition, Burgess outlines a history and sociology of what is, despite media-driven anxieties, a spectacularly successful device.
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This book examines the origins and development of health concerns associated with cellular phones, focusing principally on Western Europe, North America, and Australasia. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
This book examines the origins and development of health concerns associated with cellular phones, focusing principally on Western Europe, North America, and Australasia. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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7 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Book Offers Understanding of Mobile Phone Scare
22 Dec 2003
Format:Hardcover
Adam Burgess suggests that to understand the official embrace of precaution regarding possible health effects of mobile phone use and exposure to base stations, we have to recognize that the first step in legitimizing a scientifically "marginal concern" happens when authorities and institutions are made insecure by accusations that they failed to protect the public from some earlier danger. In this case, in England they decided they needed to take a mobile phone health threat seriously after they failed to do so with Mad Cow Disease.
The book focuses on Great Britain, but Burgess does discuss the evolution of a mobile phone health scare or lack of it in the USA, Australia, Japan, Scandinavia and elsewhere. The book illustrates how decisions made by British public health officials, politicians, newspaper and television editors on the Mad Cow issue led to a loss of trust in authority in the mobile phone case. He includes some interesting reflections by tabloid and television news editors on their role in the cell phone scare.
Burgess interviewed several scientists involved in cell phone health effects research and the main citizen activists and campaigners who are publicizing the scare. He cites conference proceedings and the peer-reviewed literature to support his views. Overall, Burgess offers a convincing case that "concern about the health effects of cell phone EMF has been shaped by the character of institutional reaction. In many cases, we can see clearly how the institutions of government have fostered and instigated health fears and demands for protection."
The book explains why, without scientific justification for great concern, officials in places like Italy and Great Britain have treated the issue as one "of profound significance." This is unfortunate for public health in general, Burgess concludes, since "there are many other health risks far more tangible and prevalent across even the most advanced societies, which struggle to achieve such a high level of attention."
The book focuses on Great Britain, but Burgess does discuss the evolution of a mobile phone health scare or lack of it in the USA, Australia, Japan, Scandinavia and elsewhere. The book illustrates how decisions made by British public health officials, politicians, newspaper and television editors on the Mad Cow issue led to a loss of trust in authority in the mobile phone case. He includes some interesting reflections by tabloid and television news editors on their role in the cell phone scare.
Burgess interviewed several scientists involved in cell phone health effects research and the main citizen activists and campaigners who are publicizing the scare. He cites conference proceedings and the peer-reviewed literature to support his views. Overall, Burgess offers a convincing case that "concern about the health effects of cell phone EMF has been shaped by the character of institutional reaction. In many cases, we can see clearly how the institutions of government have fostered and instigated health fears and demands for protection."
The book explains why, without scientific justification for great concern, officials in places like Italy and Great Britain have treated the issue as one "of profound significance." This is unfortunate for public health in general, Burgess concludes, since "there are many other health risks far more tangible and prevalent across even the most advanced societies, which struggle to achieve such a high level of attention."
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