A Scientist in Wonderland: A Memoir of Searching for Truth and Finding Trouble - Softcover

Ernst, Edzard

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1845407776 ISBN 13: 9781845407773

Publisher: Imprint Academic, 2015

Synopsis

This is the story of my life as a doctor and a scientist. Despite a youthful ambition to become a jazz musician, I eventually studied medicine and became a medical research scientist, taking up appointments in Germany, Austria and finally in England. My reverence for the pursuit of truth through the application of scientific methods, coupled with a growing interest in the history of medicine during the Nazi era, did not always endear me to my professional colleagues. At the time I was appointed to the world's first chair in alternative medicine, this was an area of health care that had never been studied systematically, and was almost entirely dominated by outspokenly evangelic promoters and enthusiasts ― among them, famously, HRH Prince Charles ― many of whom exhibited an overtly hostile, anti-scientific attitude towards the objective study of their favoured therapies. Clashes were inevitable, but the sheer ferocity with which advocates of alternative medicine would go in order to protect their field from scrutiny came as a profound surprise. This memoir provides a unique insight into the cutthroat politics of academic life and offers a sobering reflection on the damage already done by pseudoscience in the field of medicine.

About this title

About the Author

Professor Ernst qualified as a physician in Germany where he also completed his MD and PhD theses. He was Professor in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PMR) at Hannover Medical School (Germany) and Head of the PMR Department at the University of Vienna (Austria). He came to the University of Exeter in 1993 to establish the first Chair in Complementary Medicine. Since 2012, he is Emeritus Professor.

Review

"It should be required reading for everyone interested in medicine – without exception."

(Pan Pantziarka AntiCancer.org.uk)

"Ernst isn't just an academic - he's also an accomplished writer and skilled communicator. He puts over some quite complex ideas without resorting to jargon and I felt informed without ever struggling to understand, despite being a non-scientist. I was pulled into the story of his life and read most of the book in one sitting... I was impressed by what Ernst had to say and the way in which he said it."

(Sue Magee The Bookbag)

"Edzard Ernst is a living legend... The book is easy to read and hard to put down. I would particularly recommend it to anyone, with an open mind, who is interested in the truth or otherwise of CAM."

(Loretta Marron Australasian Science)

"Ernst's book is a reminder of the need to have the courage to tell the truth as you understand it, and fight your corner against those in authority, while never losing a compassion for patients and a commitment to winning the debate. "

(Robin Walsh Spiked!)

"If you want a true measure of the man, buy Edzard Ernst's memoir A Scientist in Wonderland, which the Imprint Academic press have just released. It would be worth reading [even] if the professor had never been the victim of a royal vendetta."

(Nick Cohen The Spectator)

"[T]his ferociously frank autobiography... [is] a clarion call for medical ethics."

(Barbara Kiser Nature)

"If you have any interest whatsoever in complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), Edzard Ernst's new book A Scientist in Wonderland is a must-read... Long may this man speak truth unto power!"

(Chris French Skeptical Inquirer)

"In his new book, A Scientist In Wonderland: A Memoir Of Searching For Truth And Finding Trouble, no one from the world of alternative medicine is safe from Professor Edzard Ernst's firing line."

(Katherine Keogh Mail Online)

"A Scientist in Wonderland is more than an autobiography and I'm not sure I can do justice to the riches to be found in its pages. Sometimes it’s reminiscent of a black comedy, other times it’s almost too painful to read."

(Maria MacLachlan Skepticat)

"This is a deeply moving and deeply disturbing book yet written with a light touch, humour and self-deprecation."

(Michael Baum Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine)

Edition details

• Publisher: Imprint Academic
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 1845407776
• ISBN 13: 9781845407773
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 200