Investigating Disease Patterns: The Science of Epidemiology (Scientific American Library)

In Investigating Disease Patterns, noted scientists Paul Stolley and Tamar Lasky show us how epidemiologists go about investigating the outbreak and spread of contagious diseases and, also, how they are tackling the greatest health threats of our time: heart disease, cancer, and environmental and occupational illnesses. Beginning with an historical overview, the authors trace the growth of epidemiology, from the recording of symptoms and the counting of events in the seventeenth century, to the development of a powerful investigative method used to uncover the sources not only of infectious diseases, with their simple origin in a pathogenic microorganism, but also diseases, like cancer, of more complicated origin and many contributing factors. They describe in fascinating detail how, like a detective, the modern epidemiologist pursues the answers to crucial questions about who becomes ill, then applies scientific tools such as statistical analysis and controlled trials to verify those answers. In so doing, epidemiologists both find ways to stop specific outbreaks of disease and deepen our understanding of the disease process.
Stolley and Lasky also show how epidemiology has moved beyond its exploration of the biological causes of disease, to study the workings of the health care system itself - to evaluate what works and what doesn't, from a public health campaign such as advertising to encourage the use of seat belts, to a surgical procedure, or a screening test such as mammography.