Reference Reviews

Reference for Students

Medicine, Health, and Bioethics: Essential Primary Sources. Edited by K. Lee Lerner and Brenda Wilmoth Learner. Detroit, Mich.: Thomson Gale, 2006. 1 vol. 513 p. $110.00. ISBN 1-4144-0623-1.

Studying the ethics of medical and health matters creates a multitude of opportunities for students to exercise their critical-thinking skills. This book is an index to a wide variety of issues lending themselves to further research and debate. A 23-page chronology, from 1779 and the discovery of what fills the brain’s cavities and ventricles to 2006 and the third case of mad cow disease, is given after the Table of Contents. Sections are divided into categories: biomedical science, clinical medicine, war and medicine, industry and medicine, public health, wellness and health, alternative medicine and bioethics with a brief introduction to each. Entries include the primary source or entry, the title and subtitle and primary source type. Key facts are given with essential information about the source including its creator, source citation, and further information about the creator. The historical backgrounds include the contributing factors for the primary source which may be an article or a chapter from a book. The importance of event on related events is detailed. For our recent attention to mad cow disease, students will read a chapter from Upton Sinclair’s "The Jungle" which is used as an introduction to the Meat Inspection Act of 1906. “Amy’s Story,” about anorexia, is from a periodical. Each entry has suggestions for further resources including books, periodicals, Web sites and audiovisual materials. Many articles have black and white photographs. “Sources Consulted” in the appendix offer additional resources. This will be helpful to history students who can use the chronology for a topic related to medicine in a time period they are presently studying and to literature teachers who want to collaborate with other teachers in assigning compelling topics. It should be heavily used once you make its presence known.