University of Chicago Press, , pp. The subtitle clearly signals the intention of Collins and Pinch to produce accessible texts that will be relevant to a wide audience, not only specialists in their own area of the sociology of science and technology. The present reviewer experienced a degree of disappointment in that the radical analysis of science in society pushed forward by Collins, Pinch, and others in the s is not very much reflected in this book.
However, my own feelings about the decline of a critical sociology of science will be of little relevance to most readers. From the point of view of potential readers from epidemiology and public health, what are its strengths and weaknesses? Perhaps one of the main problems will be that some of what is covered is already familiar.
For example, whereas the explanation may be very useful for lay readers, the great majority of readers of the IJE will already know why it is necessary to carry out double blind control trials.
This translation of the work of the philosophers Duhem and Quine into modern studies of science was one of Collins' many major contributions in the s. The Duhem—Quine Paradox pointed out that it is in fact impossible to know whether an unexpected or undesired result of any experiment is due to nature telling you your hypothesis is wrong, or to some kind of problem with the equipment or conduct of the experiment.
My favourite example is of Madame Curie repeating her pitchblende experiments over and over until she attained a result that was compatible with her theories. Nowadays we might say, her theories were correct. But at the time, there could have been no logical reason, no reason coming from scientific method alone, which would have justified what she did. The task of sociology of science and technology was to understand the ways in which those social forces construct the picture of nature that we work with at any particular historical moment.
However this is not the main thrust of the rest of the text and would perhaps have been inappropriate for the kind of work the authors were trying to do.
The chapter on bogus doctors may also be interesting to those engaged professionally in public health and epidemiology. As will the chapter on tonsillectomy.
The book Dr. Golem: How to Think about Medicine, Harry Collins and Trevor Pinch is published by University of Chicago Press. 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.
The latter is based largely on the brilliant work, many years ago, of the medical sociologist Mick Bloor, who showed that highly experienced doctors gave very different verdicts when shown identical case histories of tonsillitis, as to whether or not surgery would be necessary. Both of these chapters give a fascinating picture of the craft element in medicine, and the importance to everyday practice of medicine's role as an agent of social control. The great majority of bogus doctors were not caught because they harmed anyone, but because it emerged for some organizational reason or other that they were not registered.
Imagine what would have been the reaction if Harold Shipman had turned out not to have been on the UK Medical Register. 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.
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? 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? According to the authors? 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? In a compelling dissection of the placebo effect and its logical quandaries, and in a disturbing analysis of tonsillitis? This is not to say that it is to be discarded; the authors? Copyright Reed Business Information.
This is the third book in a series by Collins Cardiff Univ. The authors' earlier books focused on science and technology: In this new book the authors argue that modern medicine is like a golem--in Jewish folklore, an artificial human being who knows neither his own strength nor the extent of his ignorance. Using a sociological perspective, they explore three major tensions in medicine: To illustrate these tensions they present case studies such as the use of randomized clinical trials to control for placebo effects, the debate over the effectiveness of tonsillectomies, the controversy involving Linus Pauling and the use of vitamin C to treat cancer, the rise of contested diseases such as chronic fatigue syndrome, the low success rates of cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and the individual risks and societal benefits of childhood vaccinations.
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. The Cases of Vitamin C and Cancer. It is a humanoid made by man from clay and water, with incantations and spells. It grows a little more powerful every day. It will follow orders, do your work, and protect you from the ever threatening enemy.
But it is clumsy and dangerous.