Welcome
Available February 8 from Bloomsbury and Amazon.com. Pre-order now.
During the COVID-19 pandemic in which more than 7.1 million people around the world died, almost everyone knew someone desperate to get the COVID-19 vaccine and also knew someone equally determined not to allow themselves to be vaccinated. People who had never thought much about vaccination now had questions. How and why do vaccines work? Are they safe for everyone? Is the risk of getting the disease and its potential consequences worse than the possible side effects of the vaccine? Whose advice should we trust?
This expanded and updated edition of The Vaccine Debate published by Bloomsbury Academic written in accessible language provides accurate information on how vaccines work, the interactions between vaccines and the immune system, the history of vaccine regulation, and the rise of the vaccination-skeptic movement. It then looks in depth at each vaccine.
What makes this book different from others on vaccines is that a large portion of the book examines in detail seven major vaccine controversies. It outlines the background of each controversy, the antivaccinationist point of view, and the mainstream medical position. The goal is not to dictate which side is correct but to encourage critical thinking about such topics as balancing risks, the role of government in protecting public health, and the role of personal choice in making vaccine decisions.
Read a chapter about whether vaccines should be mandatory here.
Available December 10 from Bloomsbury and Amazon.com. Pre-order now.
Every day we make dozens of decisions. Some are carefully thought out and pondered on. Others are quick decisions made without much thought and may appear to be irrational. For example, two Chinese restaurants on the same street serve almost identical food of the same quality and at the same prices. One restaurant has a line of people waiting for a table. The other has no line. Where should we go for lunch? Many people will choose to wait at the restaurant with the line, unconsciously assuming that other people know more than they do and therefore the restaurant with the line must be best. This is an example of the way biases we are unaware of affect our lives in sometimes trivial and in other times life- changing ways.
The Encyclopedia of Cognitive Biases, written by Carnegie Mellon business school professor Helen Colby and co-writer Tish Davidson, uses research studies to illuminate the way 150 of these biases function and how they can be manipulated by businesses and individuals to encourage us to act in particular ways. Unlike alphabetic encyclopedias, this book presents biases in relationship or thematic groups with an essay introducing each group that explains what the group biases have in common and how they can be employed to nudge us into certain responses. A supplemental alphabetic listing of entries makes it easy for those looking for information on a specific bias. Further reading suggestions follow each thematic group of entries.
Available now from Bloomsbury and Amazon.com
46 examples of military technology adopted for everyday use.
Many people have heard of things used in everyday life that came from military innovations, such as nuclear power and super glue. From War Room to Living Room tells the story of unexpected items such as Kotex, margarine, aerosol spray cans, and microwave ovens. The book explores 46 innovations and inventions ranging from computers to Cheetos. Each entry traces a history of an innovation and tells stories of the innovators, both in the war arena and the civilian arena. The book spans multiple eras from the Roman empire to the First Gulf War. Text and video resources follow each entry allowing readers to both visualize and further explore innovations of interest.
Read two samples from the book here
Order now from Amazon.com. Available as print (978-1-4408-8052-0) or eBoook (979-8-7651-1178-9)
Ever wonder who established the first hospital blood bank? (Hint: not the US) or how 3-D printing has changed medicine? Concerned about your physician’s educational credentials? If you lived in the first few decades of the twentieth century, you should have been. Medical school could be as short as six months with no educational pre-requisites until 1898 when the first university (no, not Harvard) began requiring a college degree to enroll in their medical school. Medical procedures and concepts we take for granted today from hypodermic needles to baby incubators began as an idea to solve a health problem. Fifty of these life-changing innovations and the trailblazers who developed them are explored in Medical Firsts: Innovations and Milestones That Changed the World.
Read a sample from the book here
Available as print (978144084430) or eBook (978144084447) Order from Amazon.com
For more information on vaccines, Tish Davidson's first book on vaccines Vaccines: History, Science, and Issues explains the science behind vaccines in clear, non-technical language. The book traces the history of vaccine research and the feuds among their developers. Controversy has surrounded vaccines from the start, and this book investigates past and current debates surrounding their use. Vaccines is a valuable resource for libraries, doctors' offices and for anyone wishing to understand the real vaccine story.
Available as print (979-7651-1514-5) or eBook (978-14408-4354) Order from the publisher. Also available at Amazon.com
