A review of the book Should We Risk It: Exploring Environmental, Health, and Technological Problem Solving by Daniel M. Kammen & David M. Hassenzahl, (Princeton University Press 1999). Preface, acknowledgments, introduction, appendix, index. ISBN: 0-691-00426-9 [404 pp. $39.50. Cloth, 41 William Street, Princeton, NJ 08540]

Verni, Christopher

English

University of New Hampshire

RISK: Health, Safety & Environment (1990-2002)
Volume 11 | Number 3 Article 11
June 2000
Review of: Daniel M. Kammen & David M.
Hassenzahl, Should We Risk It: Exploring
Environmental, Health, and Technological Problem
Solving
Christopher Verni
Follow this and additional works at: https://scholars.unh.edu/risk
Part of the Science and Technology Policy Commons, and the Statistics and Probability
Commons
This Book Review is brought to you for free and open access by the University of New Hampshire – School of Law at University of New Hampshire
Scholars' Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in RISK: Health, Safety & Environment (1990-2002) by an authorized editor of University of
New Hampshire Scholars' Repository. For more information, please contact ellen.phillips@law.unh.edu.
Repository Citation
Christopher Verni, Review of: Daniel M. Kammen & David M. Hassenzahl, Should We Risk It: Exploring Environmental, Health, and
Technological Problem Solving, 11 RISK 261 (2000).
Review of: Daniel M. Kammen & David M. Hassenzahl, Should We Risk
It: Exploring Environmental, Health, and Technological Problem Solving
Erratum
The citation for this review is 11 RISK 255 (2000) in most commercial databases.
This book review is available in RISK: Health, Safety & Environment (1990-2002): https://scholars.unh.edu/risk/vol11/iss3/11
Book Reviews 261
Daniel M. Kammen & David M. Hassenzahl, Should We
Risk It: Exploring Environmental, Health, and Technological
Problem Solving (Princeton University Press 1999). Preface,
acknowledgments, introduction, appendix, index. ISBN: 0-691-00426-
9 [404 pp. $39.50. Cloth, 41 William Street, Princeton, NJ 08540].
Should We Risk It? is an example of how modern society has
changed its attitude and become more responsible in addressing risk
and risk management. A generation ago, society had less interest in
understanding the risks of certain technological events and situations.
However, today one rarely undertakes an action without wondering
what risks are associated with that action and what loss avoidance
measures should be taken. Of course, overly zealous lawyers, paid with
contingency fees, may drive this conservative behavior in society.
This 400-page book would most likely be found on the bookshelf in
a campus bookstore as a required text for a graduate student studying
statistics or epidemiology. Or, perhaps, an unopened copy of this book
may also be found on the bookshelf of a policy maker lacking good
judgment regarding risk issues. The authors make it clear, however, that
this book should be read by anyone who makes professional and policy
decisions regarding risks - primarily local, state, and federal policy
makers, engineers, and environmental scientists.
Thus, the authors constructed Should We Risk It? in a predictable,
logical manner that will appeal to engineers and scientists. Each chapter
introduces a subtopic and then presents an example problem complete
with an explanation. Related problems requiring the statistical method
at hand follow the example problems. The problems, albeit filled with
numbers, Greek letters, and formulas, would also appeal to social
scientists and other policy makers because they are derived from real
life examples. A reader's interest is sure to pique from the "real-world"
approach of this text. For example, in reference to the issue presented in
Jonathan Harr's novel, A Civil Action, the authors ask the reader to
estimate the dose of trichloroethylene delivered to a child living in
Woburn, Massachusetts while Wells G and H supplied drinking water
to that community.
11 Risk. Health, Safety & Environment 261 [Summer 2000]
This book as a whole is logically organized and clearly written,
which is a rare luxury for students and others new to a subject matter.
The first two chapters introduce the topic of risk and introduce the
reader to the two major ways to assess risk - stock-flow models and
cause-effect models. The next chapter provides an introduction (or
perhaps a review) of basic statistics commonly taught in college-level
introduction courses. While the authors claim that the reader need not
have taken college statistics to understand this book, it is highly
desirable because the authors' presentation of basic statistics is cursory
at best. However, in chapter four, the authors have done a fine job in
presenting advanced statistical methods - Monte Carlo and Bayesian
analysis.
The remainder of the book applies the statistical tools introduced in
the first few chapters to fields where risk analysis is highly applicable -
toxicology, epidemiology, exposure assessment, and technological risk.
In these application chapters, risk analysis problems include calculating
the probability that a pesticide will cause cancer, the expected death
rates for various exposure levels of benzene, and the probability of
dying while flying on a commercial airline. The authors stress
throughout the book that risk analysis methods apply not only to public
health issues, but also to areas such as finance and investments. The last
couple of chapters discuss how risk analysis data can be interpreted to
make intelligent decisions to avoid future losses, as well as how to
present this information to the people who are making policy-making
decisions based on the data.
Overall, this book is certainly worth reading. In today's world
where risk analysis is becoming increasingly important, Should We Risk
It? may even inspire others to become more accomplished in this area.
Christopher Vernit
t Christopher Verni is a candidate for the J.D. at Franklin Pierce Law Center. He received a
B.S. (Chemistry) from the University of Rochester, Rochester, NY.


Review of: Daniel M. Kammen & David M. Hassenzahl, Should We Risk It:
Exploring Environmental, Health, and Technological Problem Solving

UNH Scholars' Repository

RISK: Health, Safety & Environment (1990-2002)Volume 11 | Number 3 Article 11June 2000Review of: Daniel M. Kammen & David M.Hassenzahl, Should We Risk It: ExploringEnvironmental, Health, and Technological ProblemSolvingChristopher VerniFollow this and additional works at: https://scholars.unh.edu/riskPart of the Science and Technology Policy Commons, and the Statistics and ProbabilityCommonsThis Book Review is brought to you for free and open access by the University of New Hampshire – School of Law at University of New HampshireScholars' Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in RISK: Health, Safety & Environment (1990-2002) by an authorized editor of University ofNew Hampshire Scholars' Repository. For more information, please contact ellen.phillips@law.unh.edu.Repository CitationChristopher Verni, Review of: Daniel M. Kammen & David M. Hassenzahl, Should We Risk It: Exploring Environmental, Health, andTechnological Problem Solving, 11 RISK 261 (2000).Review of: Daniel M. Kammen & David M. Hassenzahl, Should We RiskIt: Exploring Environmental, Health, and Technological Problem SolvingErratumThe citation for this review is 11 RISK 255 (2000) in most commercial databases.This book review is available in RISK: Health, Safety & Environment (1990-2002): https://scholars.unh.edu/risk/vol11/iss3/11Book Reviews 261Daniel M. Kammen & David M. Hassenzahl, Should WeRisk It: Exploring Environmental, Health, and TechnologicalProblem Solving (Princeton University Press 1999). Preface,acknowledgments, introduction, appendix, index. ISBN: 0-691-00426-9 [404 pp. $39.50. Cloth, 41 William Street, Princeton, NJ 08540].Should We Risk It? is an example of how modern society haschanged its attitude and become more responsible in addressing riskand risk management. A generation ago, society had less interest inunderstanding the risks of certain technological events and situations.However, today one rarely undertakes an action without wonderingwhat risks are associated with that action and what loss avoidancemeasures should be taken. Of course, overly zealous lawyers, paid withcontingency fees, may drive this conservative behavior in society.This 400-page book would most likely be found on the bookshelf ina campus bookstore as a required text for a graduate student studyingstatistics or epidemiology. Or, perhaps, an unopened copy of this bookmay also be found on the bookshelf of a policy maker lacking goodjudgment regarding risk issues. The authors make it clear, however, thatthis book should be read by anyone who makes professional and policydecisions regarding risks - primarily local, state, and federal policymakers, engineers, and environmental scientists.Thus, the authors constructed Should We Risk It? in a predictable,logical manner that will appeal to engineers and scientists. Each chapterintroduces a subtopic and then presents an example problem completewith an explanation. Related problems requiring the statistical methodat hand follow the example problems. The problems, albeit filled withnumbers, Greek letters, and formulas, would also appeal to socialscientists and other policy makers because they are derived from reallife examples. A reader's interest is sure to pique from the "real-world"approach of this text. For example, in reference to the issue presented inJonathan Harr's novel, A Civil Action, the authors ask the reader toestimate the dose of trichloroethylene delivered to a child living inWoburn, Massachusetts while Wells G and H supplied drinking waterto that community.11 Risk. Health, Safety & Environment 261 [Summer 2000]This book as a whole is logically organized and clearly written,which is a rare luxury for students and others new to a subject matter.The first two chapters introduce the topic of risk and introduce thereader to the two major ways to assess risk - stock-flow models andcause-effect models. The next chapter provides an introduction (orperhaps a review) of basic statistics commonly taught in college-levelintroduction courses. While the authors claim that the reader need nothave taken college statistics to understand this book, it is highlydesirable because the authors' presentation of basic statistics is cursoryat best. However, in chapter four, the authors have done a fine job inpresenting advanced statistical methods - Monte Carlo and Bayesiananalysis.The remainder of the book applies the statistical tools introduced inthe first few chapters to fields where risk analysis is highly applicable -toxicology, epidemiology, exposure assessment, and technological risk.In these application chapters, risk analysis problems include calculatingthe probability that a pesticide will cause cancer, the expected deathrates for various exposure levels of benzene, and the probability ofdying while flying on a commercial airline. The authors stressthroughout the book that risk analysis methods apply not only to publichealth issues, but also to areas such as finance and investments. The lastcouple of chapters discuss how risk analysis data can be interpreted tomake intelligent decisions to avoid future losses, as well as how topresent this information to the people who are making policy-makingdecisions based on the data.Overall, this book is certainly worth reading. In today's worldwhere risk analysis is becoming increasingly important, Should We RiskIt? may even inspire others to become more accomplished in this area.Christopher Vernitt Christopher Verni is a candidate for the J.D. at Franklin Pierce Law Center. He received aB.S. (Chemistry) from the University of Rochester, Rochester, NY.

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Review of: Daniel M. Kammen & David M. Hassenzahl, Should We Risk It: Exploring Environmental, Health, and Technological Problem Solving

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