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| Volume 48, Number 3, Fall 1999 |
By Ruth Winter
Legal Alchemy: The Use and Misuse of Science in the Law by David Faigman, published by W.H. Freeman.
This is an important book for science writers who have to do stories involving legal issues. There is not an agency in the country, from the Environmental Protection Agency to Housing and Urban Development, which does not regularly rely on scientific knowledge of one sort or another. Cases involving silicone breast implants, abortion, DNA profiling, handwriting identification analysis, Brown v. Board of Education, global warming, air bags, saccharin, the space station, rape, sport utility vehicles, and many others have all involved scientific evidence in the American legislative or judicial system, to say nothing of politics. Faigman, a professor of law at the University of California, Hastings College of Law, provides disturbing evidence that many judges, juries, and members of Congress simply don't understand the science behind their decisions, and offers suggestions on how science and the law can be better understood. The PR for the book is Jeff Theis at 212-561-8221 or jtheis@whfreeman.com.
The Arthritis Foundation's Guide to Alternative Therapies by Judith Horstman (NASW), published by The Arthritis Foundation and Longstreet Press.
The book describes the most popular alternative therapies for
arthritis from acupuncture to Zen Buddhism. It presents the scientific
evidence (or lack of) for each and a consensus of opinion from
experts on the value of each treatment. Studies cited in the text
are described as uncontrolled, double blind, animal, human, randomized,
etc. The introduction tells readers what these terms mean, and
how to critically judge a scientific study. Each investigation
referred to has full citation information in an appendix, so readers
can look up the studies and if they wish, take a reference to
their doctors.
The information in the book is aimed at the 43 million people
with any of the more than 100 kinds of arthritis-but since pain
is a major symptom of arthritis-it could be useful to people with
a range of chronic illnesses. Horstman's phone (and fax) 415-831-2526,
e-mail judithhorstman@compuserve.com.
PR contact at the Arthritis Foundation is Sara Horton. Phone 404-965-7612
e-mail: shorton@arthritis.org.
Dinosaur Digs, edited by Blake Edgar (NASW), published by Insight Guides and Discovery Communications.
Part of a new series of adventure travel guidebooks published jointly by Insight Guides and The Discovery Channel, Dinosaur Digs explores the continent's best places for encountering dinosaur fossils-both in the ground and in museums. Edgar's book profiles field locations from Utah to Connecticut and Alberta to Nova Scotia, and includes an essay about field programs where amateur dinosaur buffs can get their hands dirty searching for bones beside professional paleontologists. Several additional essays cover topics in the history, science, and lore of paleontology. Edgar assembled a team of 20 top-notch science and travel journalists-several NASW members among them-to find out firsthand why dinosaurs continue to compel us after 65 million years of extinction (birds notwithstanding). Edgar, who works as an editor for California Wild magazine and has coauthored two books on paleoanthropology, has also written for the upcoming Discovery Travel Adventures guides to North American wildlife-watching, scuba diving, geology, and white-water paddling. The PR for the book series and contact for review copies is Melissa Lande, e-mail landecommunications@erols.com. Edgar can be reached at bedgar@nasw.org.
Insect Lives. Stories of Mystery and Romance from a Hidden World by Ted Schultz and Erich Hoyt (NASW), published by John Wiley & Sons.
An anthology, Hoyt's coeditor Schultz is a Smithsonian entomologist and former Whole Earth editor. If you want to forget about the "bugs" in your computer for a while, this book is a weird and wonderful journey into the insect world through literature, science, art, and popular culture.
The following are some of the fascinating and bizarre insect-literature accounts included in the book:
Hoyt asks whether you are aware that:
This book informs you about why flies swarm, why bees buzz, why fireflies flash, why ants work hard (most of the time), and why entomologists, novelists, poets, cartoonists, and filmmakers admire, are amazed by, and even love insects. The publicist at John Wiley is Tanya Barone, c/o publicity department, 212-850-6000. In the UK, the publicist is Sharon Atherton at 0131-557-2959. Hoyt can be reached at 44-1620-893-644, fax 44-1620-895-257; e-mail ehoyt@compuserve.com.
Uncommon Grounds: The History of Coffee and How It Transformed Our World by Mark Pendergrast (NASW), published by Basic Books.
Pendergrast, a Vermont freelance, has produced a comprehensive business and social history of the most widely used psychoactive drug, caffeine, and its most common solution, coffee. He writes that from its discovery on an ancient Ethiopian hillside to its role as millennial elixir in the "age of Starbucks," coffee has dominated and molded the economies, politics, and social structures of entire countries. Revolutions have been planned, romances sparked, business deals sealed, novels written, and friendships cemented over this potent brew. He notes that coffee has been banned as a creator of revolutionary sedition, vilified as the worst health-destroyer on earth, and praised as the boon to mankind. The New York Times book review said: "With wit and humor, Pendergrast has served up a rich blend of anecdote, character study, market analysis, and social history." The New Yorker review stated: "Few coffee drinkers suspect that they are affecting American foreign policy, the domestic policies of Latin-America and African countries, and the habitat of migratory birds. Pendergrast shows why they are. He has taken on a huge subject, but he organizes the facts skillfully and puts personalities in the perspective of their times. This encyclopedic volume is the entertaining result." For more information, contact Pendergrast at 802-872-0847, fax 802-872-8439, or e-mail mhp4@AOL.com.
Stealing Time: The New Science of Aging by Fred Warshofsky (NASW), published by TV books.
How long would you like to live--twice or three times as long as humans live now? Warshofsky thinks it's possible. Inspired by a three-hour PBS TV series, he describes new frontiers of research on the cellular and genetic levels that are providing new insights on aging. He examines the new paradigm of aging: a long life need not be one of disease and decline. He describes in detail the new research that has extended the life of animals and how this breakthrough information offers new methods of extending human life. The author of ten books about science, medicine, and technology, he writes about topics in this book as Sex, Death, and Aging; Elixirs and Potions; and Aging and the Mind. He notes we are on the verge of solving the mystery of why we get old but asks "are we ready for the social changes involved in prolonging life to heretofore unheard-of-lengths?" Warshofsky can be reached at 910-643-1226; fax 910-643-6126, and by e-mail: FredWAR@spyder.net. The publicist for the book is Ron Longe at 212-603-1831.
The New American Heart Association Cookbook, 25th Anniversary Edition, edited by Janice Roth Moss and Ann Melugin Williams (NASW), published by Times Books, a division of Random House.
This Silver Anniversary edition of the American Heart Association Cookbook celebrates 25 years of heart-healthy cooking the American Heart Association way. This edition builds on the association's tradition of providing savory recipes for the home cook who wants to prepare healthful meals. It contains more than 600 recipes-125 are new-for readers who want to reduce their dietary fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, and sodium.
For more information, contact Mary Beth Roche at Times Books, 212-572-2244, mroche@randomhouse.com or Williams at the American Heart Association, 214-706-1231 or annw@heart.org.
Send material about new books to 44 Holly Drive, Short Hills, NJ 07078 or e-mail ruthwrite@aol.com. Include the name of the publisher's PR and appropriate contact information as well as your preferred way to have members get in touch with you.
The book review of Cancer Clinical Trials by Robert Finn (SW
Summer 1999) contained an incorrect phone number for Finn (it's
650-560-9637) and omitted publicist information (Lisa Olson, 800-998-9938).