Product Description

Brand new! Delivery in UK within 4-5 business days. Customer service guaranteed.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #172780 in Books
• Published on: 2003-07-31
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 208 pages

Review
The introduction of colour not only immensely increases the quality of the illustrations but effectively transforms this very popular text into an atlas of forensic pathology as well as a comprehensive reference for forensic medicine in general. (Journal of the Canadian Society of Forensic Medici )

An example of clarity and contains as much information as one could possibly hope to find in a book of just over 200 pages. Simpson's Forensic Medicine has been rejuvenated and this face-lift will carry it through into the new century (St. George's Hospital Gazette (review of previous )

As one reads through this classic, one finds that the new print layout greatly enhances one's ability to use the book. This is an excellent reworking of a classic text that remains a standard introductory reference guide to the world of forensic medicine...hopefully it will find a new audience on recommended reading lists throughout the world...I thus strongly recommend this book (The Bulletin of The Royal College of Pathologists )

The twelfth edition admirably meets the challenge of acheiving the high standards set by its earlier counterparts...medical students and junior doctors in all specialities would do well to persue the pages of this book, which will also be of value to the police, and to lawyers seeking an introductory understanding to the principles of forensic medicine. (ACP News )

About the Author
Richard Shepherd is Senior Lecturer in Forensic Medicine, Forensic Medicine Unit, St George's Hospital Medical and Dental School, London, UK

Customer Reviews

this small book packs a punch!
When skimming over the details of bodily decomposition in my lecture, it was hard to imagine what the body actually looked like when the term 'bloated' came up. So I went to my local bookshop and found this book, Simpson's Forensic Medicine and found photo's illustrating the point and more in-depth detail beside.

Upon further examination of the book, I found fully illustrated, in-depth documentation of every story told by a cadaver, from the actual death event itself, through all types of murder 'weapons' and their effects including all types of wounds, both legal and illegal drugs and poisons, drowning and identification of the victim, then going further to look at cases of both child and other human rights abuses. At this point, it would be wise to mention that the pictures are horrifying, as they always are when dealing with harm to children, but these are real-cases and if you are faint of heart, it is not a good subject to study anyway!
It also goes into great detail of the medico-legal aspects of courtroom forensics itself, including ethics and medical malpractice.

In short the book may look thin in comparison to great big huge textbooks (I have many myself), but the information is concise, informative and it is a very valuable source of reference to any student from A-level to post-graduate!

Simpson's is an institution - the best student forensic text
Simpson's is an institution, and was probably the most influential student textbook in the field for many years. However, now that forensic medicine has all but disappeared from the undergraduate curriculum, does a text of this sort still have an audience?

In short, yes it does. For starters it will appeal to a much wider audience than purely medical students, but junior doctors, science students, forensic practitioners and police and Coroner's officers aswell.

The opening chapters set out the legal system as it impacts upon doctors (concentrating on UK legislation), and includes advice on behavior in court, as well as writing legal reports. Medical ethics and the law relating to medical negligence are briefly presented. A useful feature is a set of example cases of 'medical error' divided into obstetrics and gynaecology; orthopaedics; general surgery; general medicine and anaesthesiology.

Chapters on the medical aspects of death take the reader through definitions of death (cellular and somatic), the process of death certification and the role of the Coroner. Presumably the manuscript was prepared before the details of the fundamental review of the Coroner's system (Luce Report) were known, and so unfortunately this chapter may not stand the test of time if the 123 recommendations of the review are implemented.

Identification of the living describes the use of physical characteristics, including teeth, fingerprints and tattoos etc, as well as the use of DNA. It also makes the point that it is in the area of DNA analysis and not serology that the modern forensic scientist excels - a marked change from Simpson's day.

The chapter on wounds is an excellent introductory text - some clear photos and descriptions are given, and the point is made that incorrect terminology should be avoided, and if one is not sure which term to use, one should use a layperson's term, such as a cut etc (rather than use laceration to describe an incision etc).

The factors relating to the force required to cause a stab wound are listed, summarizing the recently available research into this area, of interest of course to those who design stab-proof body armour etc.

Patterns of injury are brought together in descriptions of regional injuries, and there is an excellent overview chapter on firearms injuries and explosive wounds. Further detail can of course be obtained from some of the larger texts on forensic medicine, but the material here is perfectly adequate for an introductory text.

Of particular interest to junior pathologists is the chapter on the pathology of sudden and unexpected natural deaths - the bulk of their autopsy practice. This chapter gives a useful starting point, with an overview of heart disease, aneurysms and intracranial bleeds, for example.

There is an excellent introduction to human rights issues including neglect, and the final third of the book is devoted to toxicology. Chapters on alcohol, drugs of abuse, medicines, corrosives and gases are covered, as well agricultural poisons and others. These chapters make an excellent addition to the material commonly presented in clinical pharmacology textbooks, and would I suspect bring this fairly dry subject to life!

This edition of Simpson's does not disappoint, and Dr Shepherd should be congratulated on managing to improve upon a wonderful introductory text, whilst still keeping the feel of the book - it is still easily recognizable as Simpson's.

Having said that, it would also have been nice to have seen more updating of the illustrations - most are clearly from the last edition, whereas the 11th edition managed to completely update the illustrations from previous editions, using pictures from Knight's other works. I would like to see a similar change in the next edition, with Dr Shepherd stamping more of an influence over the illustrations.

I would definitely recommend this text to all medical students - I think that Simpson's is unique in that it presents the subject in such a straight forward manner, in a clear fashion, and manages to provide an effective overview in a short amount of space, and yet thoroughly do it justice! A great achievement, and one which I hope continues in forthcoming editions. Long live Simpson's!