| Dr. Golem: How to Think about Medicine Contributor(s): Collins, Harry (Author), Pinch, Trevor (Author) |
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ISBN: 0226113671 ISBN-13: 9780226113678 Publisher: University of Chicago Press OUR PRICE: $29.70 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: January 2008 Annotation: "Dr. Golem" explores some of the mysteries and complexities of medicine while untangling the inherent conundrums of scientific research and highlighting its vagaries. 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. 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 the good health of a few. "Dr. Golem" is a timely analysis of the limitations of medicine that never loses sight of its strengths. "Collins and Pinch carefully tease out key conflicts in the way that medical knowledge is constructed and used and endeavor to show how necessarily complicated medical decision-making must be. . . . They investigate three important issues that lie at the core of medicine's uncertainty: individual versus collective interests; medicine as a science versus a healing art; and the nature of medical expertise. . . . The authors neither jump on the critical bandwagon nor apologize for medicine's failings, rather they show that the inherent discrepancy between the pace of medical discovery and the need for immediate succour is one that must be addressed jointly by physician and patient."--Noah Raizman, "The Lancet" |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Medical | Diseases - Science | Philosophy & Social Aspects |
| Dewey: 616.001 |
| Physical Information: 0.73" H x 7.75" W x 5.21" (0.64 lbs) 258 pages |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher 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. |
Contributor Bio(s): Collins, Harry: - Harry Collins is the Distinguished Research Professor of Sociology and director of the Centre for the Study of Knowledge, Expertise, and Science at Cardiff University, and a fellow of the British Academy. |