Chemical Education Today
Book & Media Reviews Four Centuries of Clinical Chemistry by Louis Rosenfeld Gordon and Breach Science Publishers: Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 1999. xvii + 562 pp. Figs. 15.7 × 23.7 cm. Hardbound. ISBN 90-5699-645-2. $145.00. reviewed by Jack Steehler
This text provides an enjoyable and comprehensive historical perspective on clinical chemistry. As the title suggests, it presents a history of clinical chemistry from the earliest days to the present. The book is not intended as a manual of current practices. Instead, the goal is presentation of the history and context behind current clinical chemistry practices, and that goal is achieved. The early history of clinical chemistry is not really separate from the early history of chemistry in general. Well-known individuals such as Boyle, Lavoisier, Dumas, Kjeldahl, Berzelius, and Tiselius are represented here, along with some pioneers known more specifically for medically oriented work. The factual material is presented in an interesting mix with the personal stories of the scientists, along with photos and sketches.
Somewhat later, clinical chemistry became more defined, and the book covers topics more identifiable as clinical. A variety of fundamental clinical tools and apparatus are shown in text and figures, including a variety of standard analytical procedures still used today. For example, hand-cranked centrifuges and the original vacutainers for collecting blood samples are described and illustrated. The growth of a lab instrument and supply industry is profiled, including glassware pioneer Evan Kimble and instrument maker Arnold Beckman. The final third of the book describes more recent material, including immunoassay techniques, electrophoretic analyses, and auto-analyzers. Unlike the first two-thirds of the book, more factual specifics are included, and less of the human dimension. The final chapter deals with some modern problems of medicine that affect clinical chemists, such as the perception that laboratory testing is overused and contributes to dehumanizing the health-care industry. All clinical chemists should have knowledge of the historical context of their work, and this text serves that need quite well. Others interested in historical figures and stories in science would also find it useful. Jack Steehler is in the Department of Chemistry, Roanoke College, Salem, VA 24153-3794;
[email protected].
JChemEd.chem.wisc.edu • Vol. 77 No. 5 May 2000 • Journal of Chemical Education
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