Dr. Golem: How to Think about Medicine. Harry Collins, Trevor Pinch

Dr. Golem: How to Think about Medicine



Download Dr. Golem: How to Think about Medicine



Dr. Golem: How to Think about Medicine Harry Collins, Trevor Pinch. pdf ebook
Publisher: University Of Chicago Press
Language: English
Page: 259
ISBN: 0226113663, 9780226113661

From Publishers Weekly

The golem is a beast of Yiddish lore, made of mud and, when brought to life, is able to defend its master against any onslaught. But the golem is also volatile-it can go out of control and wreak wanton destruction. This is the cautioning metaphor the authors took up in their previous books on science (The Golem) and technology (The Golem at Large) and which they now apply to medicine, focusing each of eight chapters on a different aspect of modern medicine's capabilities and shortcomings. According to the authors' review of numerous studies, "Medicine as we know it does little to increase the average expectation of life; diet, hygiene, and lifestyle have a much greater impact" Their answer is that we should understand more precisely what medicine is-and especially is not-capable of. In a compelling dissection of the placebo effect and its logical quandaries, and in a disturbing analysis of tonsillitis' over-diagnosis, the authors make it clear that medicine can be inadequate and imprecise, with sometimes dangerous outcomes. This is not to say that it is to be discarded; the authors' straightforward writing makes this message easy to grasp, but answers to the big questions brought up are buried beneath the case studies.Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From

To examine medicine, Collins and Pinch depart from the pattern of The Golem: What You Should Know about Science (1993; 2d ed., 1998) and The Golem at Large: What You Should Know about Technology (1998) because of the interactive nature of the beast. They made the adjustment because medicine is both science and succor, the authors and readers alike have intimate relationships with medicine, and medicine has both universal and personal missions. It isn't enough, they contend, for people to know about medicine. They must know what to do with that knowledge. For example, while it is perfectly understandable for parents to want to make the decision about, say, vaccinating their children, they must weigh the implications of widespread decisions against vaccination to make their final judgment. And just what is one's obligation to the greater good when personal health is at stake? While that is a trick question with no unanimously subscribed correct answer, Collins and Pinch present the kind of information that is helpful when thinking about the issue. Donna ChavezCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved



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