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ATLA 46, 377, 2018 377 Book Review The essays in the book have been written prima- The History of Alternative Test rily by scientists who have long been involved in the Methods in Toxicology alternatives field. For this reason, historians should not expect a traditional interpretive historical Edited by Michael Balls, Robert Combes and account. Nevertheless, the work will be of signifi- Andrew Worth cant value to historians in two ways. First of all, it Academic Press/Elsevier, New York, NY, USA, and will serve historians interested in the subject with a London, UK, 2018 useful starting point. The detailed discussions of the 350pp., £95.95/US$125.00 history of various key aspects of the story, and the ISBN 978-0-12-813697-3 copious references, will provide valuable back- ground and resources for further study. Although the focus of this multi-authored book is Secondly, the book has value as a primary, as the history of alternative test methods in toxicol- well as a secondary, source, given that it reflects ogy, the 35 essays in the volume are also relevant the perspectives of many of the leaders of the mod- to the broader history of alternatives, since it is dif- ern alternatives movement on the development of ficult to completely separate one from the other. their field. Through the essays we gain insights The work provides a rich and extensive survey of into the thinking of these leaders about alternative the subject that will be of interest to those working methods and their emergence and evolution. As in the field of alternatives, as well as to those, like the Editors note in their Preface: We believe that myself, who are interested in the history of alter- there is great value in historical perspectives, how- natives. As a historian of science and medicine, I ever subjective the individual accounts may be, as will focus my review on the value of the book for the collective lessons learned should guide us the latter group, leaving it to other reviewers to toward the truth. evaluate its usefulness to scientific researchers. As in any collected work, the individual essays The volume is divided into six sections. After an vary in style and quality. Overall, however, they introductory section providing background infor- are well written and informative. The book will mation, the succeeding five parts treat topics rang- help document the history of alternatives, espe- ing from the contributions of countries and cially in toxicity testing, and hopefully will serve to organisations through key technologies, to current stimulate interest in the subject. It would be a wor- status and future prospects. The longest segment thy addition to the shelves of biomedical libraries, is section 2, on Contributions from Countries, animal welfare organisations, scientists involved Regions and Organisations, which may be of the most use to historians. It provides a valuable and in animal experimentation, historians of science and medicine, and anyone else interested in the broad overview of the development of alternatives in many parts of the globe, and the contributions of development of alternative methods in research organisations such as ECVAM and CAAT. Its and testing. international scope is particularly welcome. It should be emphasised, however, that all the sec- John Parascandola Medical Historian tions of the book contain substantive historical information. Rockville, MD, USA
Alternatives to Laboratory Animals – SAGE
Published: Dec 1, 2018
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