Abstract
For many toxicologists, an event that happened on Wednesday, September 28, 2011, went unnoticed. Other toxicologists, who may have been aware of the event, unceremoniously dismissed it as irrelevant to their sphere of activity. A smaller group of toxicologists, along with a much larger population of nontoxicologists, took note of and interest in the event. So what was the event? The National Research Council (NRC) through its National Academies of Science’s (NAS) Committee on Science, Technology and Law (CSTL) released the Reference Manual on Scientific Evidence, Third Edition.
Toxicologists who periodically serve as an expert witness will certainly have an interest in the release of the book since it has been 11 years since the Second Edition was published and technical advances, while having no effect on the execution of the scientific method, have expanded the knowledge base of toxicology. Those toxicologists, whose immediate reaction might be to discount the publication’s release, should ponder the wisdom of the proverb, “Make haste slowly.” Rarely does a toxicologist go through his or her career without experiencing a request, and indeed demands, to explain toxicology and its practice to educated, but scientifically challenged, misinformed, or uninformed professionals.
The book is not an introductory toxicology text or a treatise explaining the fundamentals of toxicology and its relationship to other medical disciplines; nor is the book a source that identifies the cutting edge advances in toxicology. It is, however, a 1000-page explanation for the legal profession, most notably judges, on how science works and how technical information should be used to adjudicate civil disputes and criminal proceedings. The term “technical information” has a special meaning and importance for the toxicologist since the major portion of the book, by far, is either directly related to toxicology or disciplines and topics in which a toxicologist would have an interest. While the book is intended for the legal community, it has value also for the nonforensic toxicologist who is required to explain toxicology and its practice to project managers, business executives, investors and, yes, even those who may confuse toxicology with taxidermy.
Since the book was a CSTL project employing scientists from the NAS under the direction of the NRC, it required the contributions of authors, reviewers, committee persons, and other participants that, in numbers, rivaled Coxey’s Army. To count the number of contributing participants, much less identify them by name, is certainly beyond the scope of this review. However, over 25 contributors actually wrote the 15 chapters along with an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States who wrote the “Introduction,” giving the extremely well-written publication its authority and authenticity.
The distribution of the workload for this task of no small dimensions was obviously planned with careful considerations. The chapters on the admissibility of expert testimony and forensic identification of expertise were written by lawyers for lawyers and judges. The chapters entitled “How Science Works,” “Reference Guide on Exposure Science,” and “Reference Guide on Mental Health Evidence” were written by scientists. The remaining 10 chapters were coauthored by accomplished scientists in their respective fields along with knowledgeable attorneys. The remaining chapters cover topics in which toxicologists would have a direct interest: DNA identification, statistics, exposure assessments, epidemiology, and neuroscience. Other chapter subjects which may or may not be interesting to an average toxicologist include survey research, estimation of economic damages, medical testimony, mental health evidence, and engineering.
Each chapter begins with a comprehensive outline of the chapter, making it easy for the reader to locate a particular subtopic in the chapter. A list of general references follows the text of most chapters. Some of the chapters have a section entitled “Glossary of Terms.” The value of each chapter lies in the text and how it is organized and presented.
Each chapter contains copious footnotes, some of which are extensive in length, providing ample explanations of the textual material. For example, the chapter on toxicology contains 117 footnotes, the chapter on epidemiology has 215 footnotes and the treatment of statistics (2 chapters) has 247 footnotes. On average, each page of text has almost 3 footnotes. At times, the footnotes contain scientific explanations, with and without references to published scientific literature. Other uses of the footnotes include reference to legal material and case law.
The book, or “Manual” as stated in the title, is a collection of structurally identical modular units, covering topics of interest to the toxicologist. The textured layer—comprehensive outline, textual information, supplemented with ample explanatory footnotes, ending with general references and sometimes a glossary—provides the reader with the option of exploring a topic to a depth that he or she feels necessary. For the reader, the content and structure is not so much a self-study or education but rather provides a path for presenting the multifaceted dimensions of toxicology to nontoxicologists in a clear and concise manner.
A paperback version is available for purchase but an electronic version of the book or individual chapters can be read and downloaded at http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=13163, free—yes FREE!
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