|
|
|
|
Forensic Pathology Reviews, Vol. 1, Edited by Michael Tsokos. Hard Bound, 6" x 9".
Humana Press Inc., 999 Riverview Drive, Suite 208, Totowa, New Jersey 07512; Publication Date 15 April, 2004. xii + 365 pages, ISBN 1-588-29-414-5. Price $99.50
Official Site:Click here to visit
 |
There are some that consider forensic pathology to be a relatively static science, the knowledge base undergoing little change. Although many aspects remain subjective there continues to be a drive towards evidence-based research within the field, aiming to produce a greater understanding of the causation of injuries, the histopathological changes associated with traumatic or chemical insults and the detection and interpretation of toxicological substances, amongst many topics. It is upon this continued academic effort that Tsokos has produced the first volume in a projected series entitled "Forensic Pathology Reviews".
Aiming to appeal to students, trainees and established medico-legal experts alike the book encourages critical analysis of recently published topics by drawing together the classical texts of older reference books and the modern analytical techniques into a collection of easy to read chapters. The result is a book that allows trainees to access recent advances in forensic pathology whilst equally permits continued professional development of the qualified forensic pathologist.
 |
Chapters include the timing of cortical contusions in human brain injury, diagnostic and medico legal problems with sudden infant death syndrome, sudden cardiac death, resuscitation-related injuries and postmortem alcohol interpretation. Though never claiming to be a reference textbook in its own right, the degree of information available within many of the chapters far exceeds that found in established tomes; with the promise of more volumes to come, the anticipated result is one of an expanding and up-to-date knowledge base.
 |
The concept of a collection of review articles as a means of update is not novel; several histopathology series exist (notably the "Recent Advances in Histopathology" series) including those within forensic pathology itself (for example, the "Recent Advances in Autopsy Practice" series edited by Rutty). However, what Tsokos does is to draw together a collection of articles in a concise and well conceived manner. The illustrations (all monochrome) are all of a quality often lacking in modern textbooks, though somewhat sparse in number; all images are sharply focused, well cropped and informative, adding to the accompanying text. The chapters are well referenced (the chapter on central nervous system alterations in drug abuse alone has 550 references) and, importantly for an English language text, it produces critical analysis of many papers published within non-English language forensic journals, increasing the accessibility to such valuable pieces of research.
The main criticism of many similar publications is the over-reliance upon the "case report" publications, thankfully kept to a minimum within this volume. However, a minor point would be the possible errors in translation noted scattered throughout: the incorrect statement that stab wounds equate to lacerations (in "Morphological Findings in Burned Victims") is particularly jarring given the excellence with which the rest of the book has been produced.
Overall Tsokos' book is a good example of how modern forensic pathology books should be produced; affordable, readable, knowledgeable and both well referenced and illustrated. It is hoped that this first volume is an indicator of an 'essential reading' series for all within the field.
 |
-Benjamin Swift Dr. Benjamin Swift is on the editorial board of Anil Aggrawal's Internet Journal of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology. Click image to have more information about him. |
Review 1 by Erik Edston, Sweden
Review 3 by Benjamin Swift, UK
Review 4 by Ronald Wright, USA
An Exclusive interview with Michael Tsokos
Other reviews of this book:
Order Humana Press Books by clicking here.
or via telephone: (973) 256-1699 or Fax: (973) 256-8341 or Email:humana@humanapr.com
Request a PDF file of this review by clicking here. (If your screen resolution can not be increased, or if printing this page is giving you problems like overlapping of graphics and/or tables etc, you can take a proper printout from a pdf file. You will need an Acrobat Reader though.)
N.B. It is essential to read this journal - and especially this review as it contains several tables and high resolution graphics - under a screen resolution of 1600 x 1200 dpi or more. If the resolution is less than this, you may see broken or overlapping tables/graphics, graphics overlying text or other anomalies. It is strongly advised to switch over to this resolution to read this journal - and especially this review. These pages are viewed best in Netscape Navigator 4.7 and above.
-Anil Aggrawal
[ Major links ]
[ Aims and Objectives ] [ FAQ ] [ Editorial Board ] [ Contributing Partners ] [ Sitemap ]
[ Paper/Thesis submission guidelines ] [ Editorials - Cumulative Index ] [ Discussion ] [ Chat room ] [ Be our sponsor! ]
[ Cumulative index of Book Reviews sorted by | Publishers | General Interest Books | Technical Books ] [ Animated Reviews ] [ Featured Reviews ]
[ Reviews with Quizzes ] [ Links ] [ Submit books/journals/software/multimedia for review ] [ journal CD ] [ History of the Journal ] [ Interviews ] [ Credits ]
[ Cumulative index of | Theses/dissertations | [ Online Courses ] [ Awards ] [ Anil Aggrawal's Internet Journal of Book Reviews - Sister Publication ]
[ Undergraduate section | Postgraduate section ]
[ Cumulative reviews of Software/Multimedia | Books on CD/Audio tapes ] | Calenders | Models ] [ contact us ]
Books for review must be submitted at the following address.
Professor Anil Aggrawal (Editor-in-Chief)
Anil Aggrawal's Internet Journal of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology
S-299 Greater Kailash-1
New Delhi-110048
India
Click here to contact us.
This page has been constructed and maintained by Dr. Anil Aggrawal, Professor of Forensic Medicine, at the Maulana Azad Medical College, New Delhi-110002. You may want to give me the feedback to make this pages better. Please be kind enough to write your comments in the guestbook maintained above. These comments would help me make these pages better.
IMPORTANT NOTE: ALL PAPERS APPEARING IN THIS ONLINE JOURNAL ARE COPYRIGHTED BY "ANIL AGGRAWAL'S INTERNET JOURNAL OF FORENSIC MEDICINE AND TOXICOLOGY" AND MAY NOT BE REPOSTED, REPRINTED OR OTHERWISE USED IN ANY MANNER WITHOUT THE WRITTEN PERMISSION OF THE WEBMASTER
Questions or suggestions ? Please use ICQ 19727771 or email to dr_anil@hotmail.com
Page Professor Anil Aggrawal via ICQ
|
