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18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This is the scientific facts without the hype., July 11, 2004
This review is from: Risk: A Practical Guide for Deciding What's Really Safe and What's Really Dangerous in the World Around You (Paperback)
This is an excellent book on the subject of risk analysis focused on 48 specific risks we encounter in everyday life. The book is divided in three parts. Part I describes mainly discretionary or behavioral risks. These consist mainly of risks we choose to incur such as smoking, drinking alcohol, and drinking coffee. Part II focuses on environmental risks. These are risks that we bear, and for the most part can't avoid such as water and air pollution. Part III describe Medical related risks. As the authors specify these are often more outcomes than risks. For instance, cancer and heart disease are not direct risks, they are outcome of a combination of deficient nutrition, bad lifestyle habits (lack of exercise), and inherited genes. The authors make an excellent effort to come up with the most current and objective scientific knowledge. They avoid all the hype in the media that may exaggerate or understate various risks. After reading this excellent book, it is interesting to notice that by far the biggest risks to our health and survival are the behavioral risks or the risks we choose to undertake. These include smoking, drinking, obesity, and also sun tanning. These risks are far greater than pesticides, water pollution, air pollution, electro magnetic fields, and radiation from cellular phones. Thus, the authors do a good job to strengthen our common sense based on scientific evidence instead of going crazy due to misinformation by the media. The book is excellent for several reasons. First, the authors have a solid scientific background themselves. Second, they fully recognized that no matter how smart you are, you just can't be the number one expert in everything. Thus, each of the chapters (dedicated to any one of the specific 48 risks) has been fully reviewed by one or more of the top authorities in the relevant field covered. Therefore, the book does not reflect just their opinions. In essence, each of their risk analysis has been peer-reviewed by the top specialists. Third, they provide excellent reference at the end of each section to credible websites where you could further research specific issues if you cared too. Fourth, they came up with a self explanatory Risk Meter that is a visual representation of the specific exposure to a certain risk, and severity of consequence if you are exposed to this same risk. Thus, very quickly you can get a read on how serious a specific risk is right at the beginning of each chapters. Fifth, in the Appendix 2, the authors summarize their opinions on all 48 risks. So, if you just wanted to know the bottom line on a series of rather complex risks, you could quickly refer to this Appendix, and in seconds you can figure how material these risks are to yourself. This is definitely an excellent reference book. It is probably not the type of book you read in a sequential fashion cover to cover. Only the Ben Stiller character (a neurotic risk assessment specialist working for a life insurance company) in the comedy "Along Came Polly" would. I admit, I am like this character, and I managed to read about 29 of the 48 risks straight through. But, that is just me. I am a bit nuts about that stuff. You'll probably get a lot more by referring to the book whenever the media, or the experience of a friend or relative triggers within you a health-risk issue you want to know more about.
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18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Must Buy! Science Made Easy and Interesting., October 30, 2002
By A Customer
This review is from: Risk: A Practical Guide for Deciding What's Really Safe and What's Really Dangerous in the World Around You (Paperback)
FINALLY a book that translates hard science into concise, interesting, and readable text that anyone (even a child) can understand. This book is full of surprises too. I found comfort in understanding that some things I'm afraid are actually quite UNLIKELY to affect me while others I pay no attention to are REAL risks. From "accidents" to "x-rays", 48 chapters include other topics like: Air bags, articificial sweeteners, Bad Backs, Caffeine, School Buses, Mad Cow Disease, biological weapons, indoor air pollution, lead, pesticides, Radon, breast implants, mammography, sexually transmitted disease, and a an eye-opening one on medical errors. A necessary home reference guide with valuable basic knowledge.
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14 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
An Interesting Read, But Has Some Shortcomings, June 28, 2005
This review is from: Risk: A Practical Guide for Deciding What's Really Safe and What's Really Dangerous in the World Around You (Paperback)
I've been interested in the topic of perceived versus real risks for quite some time. When I bought this book I was hoping for a source for comparisons of data that would be useful to someone with such interests. While this book addresses many common risk situations with practical advice regarding them it lacks much really hard data or statistical analysis. No specific references are provided (footnotes, end notes, sources) for teh materials in the book. However, sources for further investigation do appear regularly at the end of each chapter. Also, despite publication in 2002, after the "9/11" attack and all of its attendant fall-out it fails to address even at a superficial level the preceived risks of terrorism in the US. In the index the word terrorism is noted "see biological weapons (bioweapons); perceived risk." In my opinion, this lack of coverage is glaring. Granted the book was doubtless in the works before 9/11; still, had I been the author or publisher, I'd have delayed publication until a relevant section could have been added. This is a handy book, a relatively easy read, and probably a decent introduction to the basic concepts of relative risk assessment. As long as one understands this is a basic layperson's text and not a serious look at risk assessment, this may be a good book for you.
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