Foundations of Anesthesia: Basic and Clinical Sciences

Rating:
Summary: Brief key concepts for clinicians
Review: I have been teaching these topics for several years to residents in the US and to registrars in the UK, and I have been perusing science-anesthesia texts for a long time. To keep the record straight, I contributed to this book a few years ago, but I have no financial interest in this book, so take my comments in that light. So much for the disclaimers, but some reviewers don't reveal their connections.

This book is directed to anesthesia trainees and practitioners, not scientists who want to know about anesthesia. This book explains classical and some more modern concepts in the basic sciences that are related to anesthesia. Hemmings and Hopkins don't attempt to make clinicians think like scientists, but instead they try to make them conversant in the background science on which their medical practice is based. This book has has almost no numerical examples. It has no information on techniques and is not a substitute for a basic science textbook for clinicians interested in research.

The book is a multi-author textbook and has that uneven quality that is fundamental to this kind of book. Most chapters have more depth than the average general textbook, but less depth than a dedicated textbook like "Nunn's Physiology of the Lung" or an anesthesia equipment text. Some chapters don't have related chapters in the basic texts and give a unique analysis, while some essentially transfer information from anesthesia specialty textbooks. The book is full of definitions and formulae which are hard to track down elsewhere, but it is hampered by the attempt to be inclusive, so that each key idea can only be addressed briefly and left. The topics are also too diverse to be able to bring out coherent principles between chapters in the way some molecular biology or physics texts can. I'd recommend looking at Davis and Parbrook, "Basic Physics and Measurement in Anaesthesia", which addresses some of the same areas and is softcover, though it covers less physiology and a narrower range of topics. Aside from these two, there isn't much which presents a collection of topics on science in anesthesia other than chapters in the general textbooks.

Like most hardcover medical books for small audiences, the book is expensive, especially since it has to compete with free online sources.

Overall, it is a targeted effort with clear intention of filling a training need. It is as easy to read as a general medical textbook and covers many key concepts briefly. It is best suited as an update or an introduction for the clinician or the trainee who wants an explanation of a scientific concept as it is related to anesthesia.

Rating:
Summary: The funniest
Review: I highly recommend this book if you have a sense of humor. The author, although he doesn't know anything about the topic, does a fairly good job of faking it. The serious student of anesthesia will have a blast at the humorous way in which serious medical information is presented. It's a veritable "How not to" book for editors of scientific/medical information.