Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.

From his time as a Truman appointee on the Health Needs of the Nation to his tenure as Dean of UCLA's School of Public Health, Dr. Lester Breslow has been a force behind the most important public health developments of the last century. With his trademark humor and conviction, Breslow recounts his participation in the field's ground swell from the study of communicable disease to the current control of chronic illnesses. He reveals the story behind his Human Population Laboratory's "seven healthy habits" (sleep right, eat right, don't smoke, don't drink too much, exercise, keep your weight down, eat breakfast) that Americans now know as doctrine.

Breslow tells what it took to garner the Surgeon General's cigarette warning, the current high tax on tobacco sales, and today's air pollution emission standards. He shows how a sometimes reticent medical establishment has come to understand that living conditions and behaviors are more important to longevity than the treatment of disease itself. This behind-the-scenes expose is fascinating reading for medical and public health students, educators, and policy makers alike.

Preventing Disease, the offspring of an extraordinary collaboration between the U.S. and Canadian Preventive Services Task Forces, presents a meticulous and objective review of the published evidence on preventive measures. Examining such diverse and relevant topics as screening for endometrial cancer, exercise counselling for healthy adults, and the evidence for a causal relation between dietary lipids and coronary heart disease, this volume reflects the editors' shared conviction that recommendations for preventive action should rarely exceed what is well justified by the evidence. In the current period, characterized as the Second Public Health Revolution, the authors' hard-nosed approach leads them to ask the tough questions. Are preventive measures cost-saving? Does preventive screening actually lead to treatment in clinical practice? Does the treatment do more good than harm? To what extent does our desire to eliminate causes of serious disability, ill health and premature death cloud our objectivity? All concerned about preventive medicine, community health, and primary care will find valuable stimulation for thought and action in this book: the contributions have gone beyond the rhetoric.