Miriam Solomon is Professor of Philosophy at Temple University. She has a BA in Natural Sciences from Cambridge University and a PhD in Philosophy from Harvard University. Her first book was Social Empiricism (MIT Press, 2001) and she is the author of many articles in philosophy of medicine, philosophy of science, gender and science, epistemology and bioethics. She is a Fellow of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia.

This is an impressive and important book. It is full of useful examples and case studies from medicine that help to make original points. And many of these points seem to me to be correct: in medicine, there is a plurality of methods, and these methods should be judged on their merits rather than by appealing to a hierarchy of methods. Solomon's historical approach to these issues is a productive way to proceed. It furthers the debate about the strengths and weaknesses of the various methods used in medical research and practice by providing a more complete picture of the relationships between these methods. It is a must-read for anyone interested in the epistemology of medicine or philosophy of science more generally. It is also beautifully written, with clear and informative prose, and concise summaries of the conclusions at regular intervals.

• 1. Introduction: Beyond the art and science of medicine ; 2. 'NIH's window to the health care community': the NIH Consensus Development Conference Program ; 3. From the NIH model to the Danish model: the medical consensus conference movement ; 4. Philosophical interlude: objectivity and democracy in consensus conferences ; 5. Evidence-based medicine as empiric medicine ; 6. The fallibility of evidence-based medicine ; 7. What is translational medicine? ; 8. On narrative medicine ; 9. A developing, untidy, methodological pluralism ; Concluding thoughts ; Bibliography ; Index

Miriam Solomon is Professor of Philosophy at Temple University. She has a BA in Natural Sciences from Cambridge University and a PhD in Philosophy from Harvard University. Her first book was Social Empiricism (MIT Press, 2001) and she is the author of many articles in philosophy of medicine, philosophy of science, gender and science, epistemology and bioethics. She is a Fellow of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia.

This is an impressive and important book. It is full of useful examples and case studies from medicine that help to make original points. And many of these points seem to me to be correct: in medicine, there is a plurality of methods, and these methods should be judged on their merits rather than by appealing to a hierarchy of methods. Solomon's historical approach to these issues is a productive way to proceed. It furthers the debate about the strengths and weaknesses of the various methods used in medical research and practice by providing a more complete picture of the relationships between these methods. It is a must-read for anyone interested in the epistemology of medicine or philosophy of science more generally. It is also beautifully written, with clear and informative prose, and concise summaries of the conclusions at regular intervals.

• 1. Introduction: Beyond the art and science of medicine ; 2. 'NIH's window to the health care community': the NIH Consensus Development Conference Program ; 3. From the NIH model to the Danish model: the medical consensus conference movement ; 4. Philosophical interlude: objectivity and democracy in consensus conferences ; 5. Evidence-based medicine as empiric medicine ; 6. The fallibility of evidence-based medicine ; 7. What is translational medicine? ; 8. On narrative medicine ; 9. A developing, untidy, methodological pluralism ; Concluding thoughts ; Bibliography ; Index

Miriam Solomon is Professor of Philosophy at Temple University. She has a BA in Natural Sciences from Cambridge University and a PhD in Philosophy from Harvard University. Her first book was Social Empiricism (MIT Press, 2001) and she is the author of many articles in philosophy of medicine, philosophy of science, gender and science, epistemology and bioethics. She is a Fellow of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia.

This is an impressive and important book. It is full of useful examples and case studies from medicine that help to make original points. And many of these points seem to me to be correct: in medicine, there is a plurality of methods, and these methods should be judged on their merits rather than by appealing to a hierarchy of methods. Solomon's historical approach to these issues is a productive way to proceed. It furthers the debate about the strengths and weaknesses of the various methods used in medical research and practice by providing a more complete picture of the relationships between these methods. It is a must-read for anyone interested in the epistemology of medicine or philosophy of science more generally. It is also beautifully written, with clear and informative prose, and concise summaries of the conclusions at regular intervals.

• 1. Introduction: Beyond the art and science of medicine ; 2. 'NIH's window to the health care community': the NIH Consensus Development Conference Program ; 3. From the NIH model to the Danish model: the medical consensus conference movement ; 4. Philosophical interlude: objectivity and democracy in consensus conferences ; 5. Evidence-based medicine as empiric medicine ; 6. The fallibility of evidence-based medicine ; 7. What is translational medicine? ; 8. On narrative medicine ; 9. A developing, untidy, methodological pluralism ; Concluding thoughts ; Bibliography ; Index