Last Aid: The Medical Dimensions of Nuclear War

Abstract

Several chapters in Last Aid warrant the attention of the medical profession, but, as with many edited volumes, it suffers from repetition and variations in style. An excellent chapter excerpted from the Effects of Nuclear War by the Office of Technology Assessment describes as accurately as possible what is known and not known about acute biologic effects following a nuclear explosion. A major shortcoming of this outstanding chapter is that it simply mentions long-term effects and does not explore them further; however, the reader is referred to another chapter for a more definitive explanation. Jack Geiger's chapter on the Medical Effects on a City in the United States is also well written. It integrates the social, physical, and environmental impact and focuses these effects on urban population centers. Other chapters directing the reader's attention to large cities, such as London and Tokyo, are somewhat repetitive. John Constable's chapter on Burn