Expert Witnessing: Explaining and Understanding Science / Edition 1

by Carl Meyer

Overview

Communication problems between science and the courts are widely deplored and sometimes exploited by a variety of groups. The U.S. Supreme Court has twice tightened the law of evidence to control the flow of information, but amazingly little has been written to analyze the nature of the problem and reduce the barriers. Expert Witnesses: Explaining and Understanding Science results from the first-hand experience of the contributors-who include scientists, expert witnesses, litigators, and a judge-that the cultural and interdisciplinary communications barriers between science and the law can be greatly reduced to everybody's advantage if the parties understand and respect each other's needs and positions.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780849311970
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	12/29/1998
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.19(h) x (d)

Table of Contents

What Judges, Scientists, Physicians and Attorneys Ought to Know about Each Other, C. MeyerAre Jurors Smart Enough to Understand Scientific Evidence? P.M. Ayd and M.M. TroegerThe Fundamental Differences between Science and Law, R.A. BohrerThe End of Splendid Isolation: Tensions between Science and Clinical Practice, A.L. GreerExpert Testimony Involving Chemists and Chemistry, R. Bjur and J.T. RichardsonThe Role of Experts in German Environmental Law, C-P. MartensDistinguishing Good Science, Bad Science, and Junk Science, C. MeyerThe Five Dimensions of Scientific Testimony, K.M. VerdealPresenting Sophisticated Scientific Evidence Persuasively: The Role of the Scientific Expert and the Attorney at Trial, P.M Ayd and M.M. TroegerForensic Techniques for Establishing the Origin and Timing of a Contaminant Release, R.D. MorrisonUsing Epidemiology to Explain Disease Causation to Judges and Juries, L. ErdreichMedical and Scientific Evidence of Causation: Guidelines for Evaluating Medical Opinion Evidence, S.R. PoulterExplaining Toxic Chemical Risk in the Courtroom Authority, Storytelling, and Science, W. Roth-NelsonThe Role of Technical Expert Witnesses in Patent Litigation, M. Kaminski

Editorial Reviews

"This book will be of interest to any professionals who have been called upon to serve as an expert witness, whether it is the first or 100th litigation they have been involved in."
-Journal of Environmental Quality

From the Publisher

Contributors who have returned alive from the tangled skein of communications between science and the courts explain that the cultural and interdisciplinary barriers can be greatly reduced if all parties understand and respect each other's needs and positions, perhaps without noticing that if everyone did so, the need for courts at all would be greatly reduced. The 14 presentations, from a September 1997 meeting of the American Chemical Society in Las Vegas, include suggestions and perspectives for scientists, engineers, physicians, judges, litigators, and other who engage the courts. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

Booknews