
A look at how the concept of "risk factor" has influenced public health and preventive medicine, with an emphasis upon the study of heart disease.The greatest revolutions in twentieth-century public... Read More
In clear, nontechnical language Rothstein introduces readers to the history of vital statistics and their precursors, from sixteenth-century bills of mortality to censuses and on to the increasingly complex life tables of the insurance industry.- PROJECT MUSE
This . . . is a sophisticated analysis of the way health policy was and is created, amended, and circumvented. While maintaining good sociological skepticism about motives, it is open-minded about the role of industry and technology in helping to advance a healthier society. . . . The individual and collective power of Rothstein's facts and linkages is overwhelming and, at the same time, delightful. . . . He has written one of the best books in the sociology of medicine in recent memory.- CONTEMPORARY SOCIOLOGY
A rich and useful study.- JOURNAL OF THE HISTORY OF MEDICINE
[A] well written book...whether you read the entire book, or only selected chapters, you will walk away with a wealth of knowledge.- NEW JERSEY MEDICINE
[The New England Journal of Medicine] strongly recommend[s] this book to everyone interested in the interface of public health and clinical medicine and in the epidemiology of CHD.- NEW ENGLAND JOURNAL OF MEDICINE, February 2004
Public Health and the Risk Factor is a terrific book. It describes the evolution of a concept that has become central to public health and medical thought: the risk factor. The author uses nontechnical language to guide readers through a wide array of 18th-, 19th-, and 20th-century technical developments that are the basis of our current understanding of the risk factor concept.- JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION Volume 290, No 17
Rothstein portrays the dynamics of how industry, medical science, the media and popular culture have all pitched in to shape contemporary notions of a risk factor. . . . With this book, [he] adeptly . . . shows how -- void of an understanding of the influence that social, political, and economic values have on our notions of risk -- it becomes exceedingly difficult to parse out the differences between scientific evidence and the conclusions drawn from that evidence.- Ashley Naimi, AMERICAN JOURNAL OF EPIDEMIOLOGY, January 2009
In clear, nontechnical language Rothstein introduces readers to the history of vital statistics and their precursors, from sixteenth-century bills of mortality to censuses and on to the increasingly complex life tables of the insurance industry.– PROJECT MUSE
This . . . is a sophisticated analysis of the way health policy was and is created, amended, and circumvented. While maintaining good sociological skepticism about motives, it is open-minded about the role of industry and technology in helping to advance a healthier society. . . . The individual and collective power of Rothstein's facts and linkages is overwhelming and, at the same time, delightful. . . . He has written one of the best books in the sociology of medicine in recent memory.– CONTEMPORARY SOCIOLOGY
A rich and useful study.– JOURNAL OF THE HISTORY OF MEDICINE
[A] well written book...whether you read the entire book, or only selected chapters, you will walk away with a wealth of knowledge.– NEW JERSEY MEDICINE
[The New England Journal of Medicine] strongly recommend[s] this book to everyone interested in the interface of public health and clinical medicine and in the epidemiology of CHD.– NEW ENGLAND JOURNAL OF MEDICINE, February 2004
Public Health and the Risk Factor is a terrific book. It describes the evolution of a concept that has become central to public health and medical thought: the risk factor. The author uses nontechnical language to guide readers through a wide array of 18th-, 19th-, and 20th-century technical developments that are the basis of our current understanding of the risk factor concept.– JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION Volume 290, No 17
Rothstein portrays the dynamics of how industry, medical science, the media and popular culture have all pitched in to shape contemporary notions of a risk factor. . . . With this book, [he] adeptly . . . shows how -- void of an understanding of the influence that social, political, and economic values have on our notions of risk -- it becomes exceedingly difficult to parse out the differences between scientific evidence and the conclusions drawn from that evidence.– Ashley Naimi, AMERICAN JOURNAL OF EPIDEMIOLOGY, January 2009