J. Charnley – författare

A fascinating collection of essays by leading British and Swiss scholars which explore the development of Swiss democracy from 1848 to the present day. Culture and literature, politics and economics are looked at in turn in an attempt to unravel the extraordinary success of this microcosmic, multicultural society at the heart of Europe. The problem of contemporary Switzerland, faced with rapid changes within the European Union, are outlined with refreshing candour. The question is posed whether the country can retain its distinctive identity and traditional attitudes while at the same time seeking closer cooperation with the newly emerging Europe and accepting the challenges of the globalized economy.

This collection of essays by leading British and Swiss scholars explores the development of Swiss democracy from 1848 to the present day. Culture and literature, politics and economics are looked at in turn in an attempt to unravel the extraordinary success of this microcosmic, multicultural society at the heart of Europe. The problem of contemporary Switzerland, faced with rapid changes within the European Union, are outlined. The question is posed whether the country can retain its distinctive identity and traditional attitudes while at the same time seeking closer cooperation with the newly emerging Europe and accepting the challenges of the globalized economy.

The theme of this work is the application of the engmeermg theory of frictional torque to total hip replacement. The author adhered tenaciously to this theory, involving the use of a small-diameter femoral head, throughout the epoch when the large-diame­ ter, metal-to-metal design dominated the field. During that considerable period general satisfaction with the early results rendered criticisms of the large-diameter head unwelcome. There was a formidable array of counter­ criticism: the small head would pierce a film of synovial fluid; the small head would wear the socket too rapidly; the small head would always have a high risk of dislocation; detachment of the trochanter, to achieve precise orientation for the small head, was unacceptable. But all these objections have now been largely overcome. Lubrication of high molecular weight polyethylene (HMWP) on metal is now accepted as being mainly by the boundary regime with thick fluid films playing no part. We now know that HMWP can indeed tolerate the very high stresses imposed by the small head and in tribological theory there may even be some advantage in high stress. Dislocation is now known not to be an automatic sequel to the small head.