- Hardcover: 280 pages
- Publisher: University of Chicago Press (1 Nov 2005)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0226113663
- ISBN-13: 978-0226113661
- Product Dimensions: 20.5 x 14.3 x 2.5 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,717,581 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Dr. Golem: How to Think about Medicine
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle .
Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
More About the Author
Product Description
Review
"Dr. Golem stalks the uncertainty of modern medicine, exploring its shaky clinical foundations, its bogus claims, and even its bogus practitioners. Deftly, Collins and Pinch penetrate the hole in the very heart of modern medicine - its 'irrational' rationale in the placebo effect. But it is neither with cheap cynicism nor appeals to popular anti-science sentiment that they conduct their surgery. Rather it is with the steely logic of the sociology of science - albeit tempered by the same wit, irony, and engaging personal anecdotes that characterized the two previous volumes in the Golem series." - Roger Cooter, The Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine at University College London"
Product Description
A creature of Jewish mythology, a golem is an animated being made by man from clay and water who knows neither his own strength nor the extent of his ignorance. Like science and technology, the subjects of Harry Collins and Trevor Pinch's previous volumes, medicine is also a golem, and this "Dr. Golem" should not be blamed for its mistakes - they are, after all, our mistakes. The problem lies in its well-meaning clumsiness. "Dr. Golem" explores some of the mysteries and complexities of medicine while untangling the inherent conundrums of scientific research and highlighting its vagaries. Driven by the question of what to do in the face of the fallibility of medicine, "Dr. Golem" encourages a more inquisitive attitude toward the explanations and accounts offered by medical science. In eight chapters devoted to case studies of modern medicine, Collins and Pinch consider the prevalence of tonsillectomies, the placebo effect and randomized control trials, bogus doctors, CPR, the efficacy of Vitamin C in fighting cancer, chronic fatigue syndrome, AIDS cures, and vaccination. They also examine the tension between the conflicting faces of medicine: medicine as science versus medicine as a source of succor; the interests of an individual versus the interests of a group; and the benefits in the short term versus success rates in the long term. Throughout, Collins and Pinch remind readers that medical science is an economic as well as a social consideration, encapsulated for the authors in the timeless struggle to balance the good health of the many - with vaccinations, for instance - with the good health of a few - those who have adverse reactions to the vaccine. In an age when the deaths of research subjects, the early termination of clinical trials, and the research guidelines for stem cells are front-page news, "Dr. Golem" is a timely analysis of the limitations of medicine that never loses sight of its strengths.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organise and find favourite items. |
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Format:Paperback
Excellent clear writing which challenges both the blind acceptance of medicine and also the 'popular opposition' to recent scientific controversies. This book sets out the arguments behind the media hype and forces you to think again about the realities inherent in Western medical systems which are increasingly reliant on technology. It also raises questions about the limits of medicine, and the place occupied in society by the medical practices which we either tend to take for granted,forget,or prefer not to think about. I will be getting the rest of the Golem series now.
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
- Books > Health, Family & Lifestyle > Medical & Healthcare Practitioners > Internal Medicine > Diseases & Disorders
- Books > Reference > Encyclopaedias
- Books > Science & Nature > History & Philosophy > Reference
- Books > Science & Nature > Mathematics > Popular Maths
- Books > Science & Nature > Mathematics > Reference
- Books > Science & Nature > Medicine > Reference
- Books > Scientific, Technical & Medical
- Books > Society, Politics & Philosophy > Philosophy
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
