Product Description

Though notoriously associated with Germany, human experimentation in the name of science has been practised in other countries, as well, both before and after the Nazi era. The use of unwitting or unwilling subjects in experiments designed to test the effects of radiation and disease on the human body emerged at the turn of the 20th century, when the rise of the modern, coercive state and the professionalization of medical science converged. "Useful Bodies" brings together leading historians of medicine to explore the intersection of government power and medical knowledge in revealing studies of human experimentation - germ warfare and jaundice tests in Great Britain; radiation, malaria and hepatitis experiments in the US; and nuclear fallout trials in Australia. These examples of medical abuse illustrate the extent to which living human bodies have been "useful" to democratic states and emphasize the need for intense scrutiny and regulation to prevent future violations.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1970286 in Books
• Published on: 2003-10
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 240 pages

About the Author
Jordan Goodman is an honorary research fellow at the Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine at University College London. Anthony McElligott is founding professor of history at the University of Limerick and director of the Centre for Historical Research. Lara Marks is a visiting senior research associate at Cambridge University and an honorary senior lecturer at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.