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Epi Wit & Wisdom Resources
A Few Readers Nominate
Books Most Deserving To Be On An Epidemiologist’s Bookshelf (1 of 3)
Forty-one readers have cast
approximately 350 votes to date in response to the Epi Monitor contest
to identify ten books considered “most deserving to be on an
epidemiologist’s bookshelf.” Almost 90 different titles have been
nominated for this distinction, although the majority of these titles
received only a single mention.
We had hoped to receive
nominations from 10 percent or more of our subscribers; however, the
number of respondents was considerably less than 10 percent. Although
the results are of uncertain significance, we believe they will be of
interest to our readers, particularly the respondents themselves, many
of whom expressed interest in comparing their list with those of
fellow readers.
The titles receiving the most
nominations are listed below.
Title/Author(s), Number of
Nominations, Percent of Readers Mentioning
1. Case-Control Studies,
Schlesselman, 31, 75.6%
2. Epidemiological Research,
Kleinbaum, Kupper, Morganstern, 30, 73.2%
3. Statistical Methods for Rates
and Proportions, Fleiss, 25, 61.0%
4. Foundations in Epidemiology,
Lilienfeld & Lilienfeld, 23, 56.1%
5. A Dictionary of Epidemiology,
Last, 19, 46.3%
6. Epidemiology Principles and
Methods, MacMahon & Pugh, 15, 36.6%
7. Statistical Methods in Cancer
Research, Volume 1, The Analysis of Case Control Studies, Breslow &
Day, 13, 31.7%
8. Cancer Epidemiology
Prevention, Schotten-feld & Fraumeni, 12, 29.3%
9. Control of Communicable
Diseases in Man, Benenson, 12, 29.3%
10. Epidemiology: An
Introductory Text, Mausner & Bahn, Mausner & Kramer, 12, 29.3%
Another nine titles were
mentioned by 10 percent or more of the readers. They are:
• Preventive Medicine, Rosenbaum
• Epidemiological Analysis with
a Programmable Calculator, Rothman & Boice
• An Introduction to
Epidemiological Methods, Kahn
• Public Health & Preventive
Medicine, Last (ed)
• Occupational Epidemiology,
Monson
• Causal Thinking in the Health
Sciences, Susser
• Eleven Blue Men, Roueche
• Statistical Methods, Snedecor
& Cochran
• Applied Regression Analysis,
Kleinbaum & Kupper
Items of interest in reviewing
the results include the following:
• Only four titles were
mentioned by 50 percent or more of the readers responding.
• Most of the titles in the top
ten are relatively recent books. Classics, such as Snow on Chloera,
received relatively few votes.
• There were a few unexpected
nominations, such as Dorland’s Illustrated Medical Dictionary, and The
Elements of Style (Strunk & White).
When the idea for soliciting
nominations was announced in the January issue, we reserved the right
to cancel our prize offers if too few responses were received. Despite
the small number of readers who voted, we decided to award two cash
prizes as a token of appreciation. First, Jerry Blondell
from Springfield, VA will receive $50 as the winner of a drawing made
from the names of all respondents. Second, Daniel Neuspiel,
Bronx, NY will also receive $50 for being the first respondent to pick
the largest number of titles which ultimately appeared on the top ten
list. Dr. Neuspiel picked seven out of 10 titles. Four other
respondents, Ivana Croghan (Buffalo, NY),
Sukon Kanchanaraksa (Baltimore, MD), Guillermo Llanos
(Lima, Peru), and A. Robert Schnatter (Danbury, CT)
also correctly predicted seven out of 10 titles; however, their
nominations were received later.
Thanks to all readers who took
the time to participate. Many gave considerable thought to their
selections and provided interesting comments about the reasons for
their choices.
Finally, we wish to share with
readers a note received from one respondent: “I can't resist the
impulse to suggest a book title for the epidemiologist’s bookshelf:
John Eyler, Victorian Social Medicine: The Ideas and
Methods of William Farr (Madison, University of WI Press, 1980). It’s
hardly current, but it’s a fascinating read, well-researched and, well
incumbent on epidemiologists.” Paul Greenough, Department of History,
University of Iowa, Iowa City.
Published May 1986
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