BOOKCASE - Dick-Read’s Natural Childbirth was published in 1933. Its plangent criticism of current obstetric practices made the author few friends among the “O&G” establishment. But many women saw his contribution to the reshaping of medical attitudes to childbirth differently. In Post-war Mothers. Childbirth Letters to Grantly Dick-Read, 1946-1956 (University of Rochester Press, £35, ISBN 1 878822 87) Mary Thomas has collected letters he received from anxious women and his invariably courteous responses.
- We hear a lot about obesity, leptin, and neuropeptide Y but not much about the process of ingestion of food. The Scientific Basis of Eating (Karger, $190.50, ISBN 3 8055 6498 8), volume 9 in the grandiloquently named series Frontiers of Oral Biology, is about how we smell and taste, chew, and swallow and the way in which these activities are integrated by the nervous system. It’s really for the specialist, but many will be interested in Edmund Rolls’ chapter about gustatory and olfactory processing in the brain and the control of eating. The concept that there are only four prototypical tastes—sweet, sour, salty, and bitter—is under attack. It seems that there are separate cortical representations of at least two other taste qualities—umami, the flavour of monosodium glutamate that is present in proteins from various sources, and tannin, the astringent taste found in a large range of spices, wines, and, of course, tea.
- Disabled people and those who advise them will find Furniture (The Disability Information Trust, £10.00, ISBN 1 873773 15 3) invaluable. It’s an illustrated catalogue of beds, chairs, tables, and other equipment specially made for people with disability. Not only does it provide detailed information on the equipment that is available, it also gives advice on where and how to get it.
- Murphy’s law states that if anything can go wrong it will. To minimise the effects of this law, the pharmaceutical industry uses standard operating procedures, defined as detailed written instructions to achieve uniformity of the performance of a specific function, in the conduct and reporting of clinical trials. Good Clinical Practice. Standard Operating Procedures for Clinical Researchers (John Wiley, £29.95, ISBN 0 471 96936 2) is a compilation of checklists. Anyone concerned with clinical research, especially trials of drugs and medical devices, might find that it saves them a lot of time.
- The level of medical and anatomical knowledge of the ancient Greeks was unsurpassed in Western culture until the 16th century. In Greek medicine. From the Heroic to the Hellenistic Age. A Source Book (Duckworth, £14.95, ISBN 0 7156 2771 6) James Longrigg provides a selection and translation of some of the most interesting classical texts.Christopher Martyn, BMJ
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