Risk watch

the long version

Risk taking is the essence of life itself. Balancing risk and reward is a biological, intellectual and emotional imperative. Yet few of us devote much, if any, rational thought to the subject – even when our own lives are at stake. Instead, we tremble over newsworthy but often insignificant threats, while blithely accepting – and even inviting – real health and safety risks in our daily lives. This myth-shattering new book rigorously examines how we, as individuals and as a society, think about dangers to our health by exploring: - How we measure and express risk - How we distinguish high risk from low risk - How we cope with premature death - How health risks have changed since the turn of the century - How the media distort public perceptions of risk. Risk watch proposes a totally new, rational and comprehensive method for measuring health risks – a method that will radically change the way we perceive and evaluate risk by showing how to separate distortions from truths.