The Cornell Illustrated Encyclopedia of Health: The Definitive Home Medical Reference Book

This enormous, comprehensive volume contains more than 1,200 illustrated pages of definitions and diagnoses on virtually every medical condition known to man, plus treatment and preventative tips for many ailments. This edition contains a special emergency and first aid section with more than 100 entries arranged alphabetically and elaborately presented for quick reference.

Library Journal

Drawing on contributors who are all physicians, editor Gotto (dean, Weill Medical Coll., Cornell Univ.) presents a comprehensive encyclopedia of diseases, anatomical systems, drugs, procedures, and other health topics. Each of the 3600 entries starts with a one-sentence definition highlighted in blue, followed by a longer explanation. Although more concise and clearer to the nonclinical reader than those in a text such as Dorland's Illustrated Medical Dictionary, these definitions often seem unnecessarily obtuse for a title marketed to consumers. The text is written at about a 12th-grade reading level, again a bit high for this type of work. The plentiful illustrations are generally good but far too small to be of much use. An emergency and first-aid section at the back, identified by red page edges, is accurate but far too wordy for use during an actual emergency. In addition, it might have been more useful at the front of the book. Despite its shortcomings, this title definitely fills a niche. The encyclopedia format makes finding specific terms easier than in titles such as The Merck Manual of Medical Information Home Edition, The Mayo Clinic Family Health Book, or The Harvard Medical School Family Health Guide, which are organized by body system; however, the encyclopedia format doesn't explain the greater context in which disease occurs. There are more than twice as many listings in this encyclopedia than in The Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine, but they are much briefer. Thus, this title complements but does not replace these popular consumer health references. Eric Weaver, Redwood Health Lib., Petaluma, CA Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.