Many will remember the segment of "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" in the Disney film Fantasia; it is a perfect metaphor for medical imaging as it stands today. The apprentice magician tests his nascent skills at sorcery by bringing common household items to life and putting them to work. At first, things go well, but eventually he loses control, and chaos ensues.
Medical imaging, too, could spin out of control. The benefits of imaging are undeniable. In the past thirty years, innovations like CT, MRI, and PET scanning have not only markedly reduced clinical risk for patients but have also transformed medical practice. Its costs, however, have grown explosively, to the point where imaging expenses have become a political issue. The aggressive adoption of imaging technology has raised issues about the role of inappropriate economic incentives and the role of defensive medicine in driving up medical costs.
Radiologists have utilized imaging technology to transform their practice from a pure diagnostic discipline into a curative one. Radiologists are among the most successful knowledge workers in the entire economy, leveraging digital information technology and Internet connectivity to become the first global medical discipline. Imaging is poised to make a further quantum advance - into the workings of the human cell and the molecular biology of complex disease.
Where is this remarkable technology, and the discipline which uses it, headed? How can society make the most responsible use of this powerful new tool? How will imaging and radiologists reshape medical practice? These questions will be answered by The Sorcerer's Apprentice.

In 2006, the first baby boomers turned 60, unleashing a veritable tidal wave of gloomy punditry, advertising for financial services, and forecasts of impending national bankruptcy. In The Long Baby Boom, Jeff Goldsmith counters the predictions of such "catastropharians" with a far more optimistic scenario.

Drawing on evidence that most baby boomers plan on working long past age 65, Goldsmith argues that they will have a constructive impact on society over the next twenty years. By assuming a much larger portion of the financial burden of their own retirement and health costs, they will help preserve Social Security and Medicare for the less fortunate and for successive generations.

The Long Baby Boom is the first comprehensive forecast of baby boomers' career plans, health trends, and cultural and political values. Goldsmith's pro-work, pro-savings, pro-health social policy emphasizes personal responsibility without ripping the social safety net. Optimistic and innovative, The Long Baby Boom doesn't promise a cloud-free future, but it does reassure us that the sky isn't falling.