Medical Geography, Second Edition
"This is an improved second edition of a text that has become required reading in most upper-division undergraduate and graduate courses on medical geography.  Coverage of various subdisciplines has been enhanced with topical examples and discussions of the new analytical techniques that have come to the fore in the last decade, such as the impact of GIS.  The reader is shown the interaction between various geographic systems--including physical, cultural, and political surfaces--and different disease surfaces, via a series of case studies.  The sections on spatial analysis and visualization are particularly interesting, as these are at the root of the current research dialogue between medical geography and public health.  This text serves as an excellent teaching tool for a first class on medical geography and as a general resource for anyone interested in these issues."--Andrew Curtis, Department of Geography and Anthropology, Louisiana State University"In the best tradition of geography, this text is truly an interdisciplinary endeavor.  It draws effectively on many different bodies of literature to construct a more holistic understanding of the geography of human health.  True to the strengths and internationally recognized expertise of the authors, the book admirably spans the twin traditions of disease ecology and the geography of health services research.  It also reaches out to include such new issues and areas of debate as pollution, global warming, poverty, and other late-modern determinants of health. Many helpful illustrations and case study vignettes enhance the text's prospects as an educational tool, and the inclusion of several 'methodological' chapters is also laudable.  Each of these chapters will serve as an excellent introduction and springboard for discussion as part of a senior undergraduate or graduate-level course in medical geography.  The volume will also be of interest to non-geographers who seek a deeper understanding of the complex social and natural ecology of human health."--Blake Poland, PhD., Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Toronto, Canada"This new edition is encyclopedic in scope, yet readable and instructive at many levels.  The authors have successfully tackled the difficult task of integrating and updating the best of medical geography with a range of  health-related fields.  The chapter on disease diffusion in space exemplifies the best of spatial and social analysis.  Replete with useful examples, this text offers itself as an indispensable compendium for students of medical geography, epidemiology, the ecology of disease, and more.  It should be on the shelf of every medical library and social medicine department.  A commendable revision to a well-established medical geography primer."--Vincent E. Gil, PhD, FAACS, Medical Anthropologist/HIV Epidemiologist, Division of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Vanguard University of Southern California"Meade and Earickson each have been engaged in medical geographic research for more than three decades.  Their collective wisdom encompasses just about everything written on this broad range of subjects. Not only do they have a thorough knowledge of the discipline, but they are able to express it in ways that will make the subject interesting for undergraduate students in geography, other social sciences, and such preprofessional fields as urban studies and public health.  I plan on keeping my copy on the shelf right next to my desk, because I expect to refer to this book quite frequently."--Michael Greenberg, PhD, Department of Urban Studies and Community Health, Rutgers University