Human Experimentation: A Guided Step Into the Unknown

I recently had the pleasure of reviewing Alvan Feinstein's monumentalClinical Epidemiology: The Architecture of Clinical Research, which explained medical statistics and clinical research in a most accessible fashion. Now comes this shorter book, which should be read in tandem with Feinstein's book.Human Experimentationexplores the historical and philosophical basis of clinical research. With examples drawn from aphorisms and even jokes, it provides a guide to the avoidance of error in clinical research. The classic joke not included in this book tells of the little boy who brings a failing grade home from school. Upon query by the parent, he explains that the teacher disagreed with his experimental conclusions: "I put a frog down on the ground and shouted, 'Jump.' I measured the distance, which was 3 ft. Then I tied his front legs together and again said, 'Jump.' The distance jumped now measured 1 ft. I then tied