July 30th, 2008 at 9:20 am
The Man Behind “A Civil Action”
The August issue of Discover magazine features a profile and interview with Phil Brown, author of Toxic Exposures: Contested Illnesses and the Environmental Health Movement.
The interview tells how Phil Brown’s work as a sociologist in the field of public health has led him to create unique partnerships between scientists and community groups concerned about disease clusters. The profile details the impact of his 1990 book No Safe Place: Toxic Waste, Leukemia, and Community Action, which chronicles the efforts of scientists and citizens of Woburn, MA to discover the cause of the high rate of leukemia in the area. That work later became the basis of the movie, A Civil Action.
Phil Brown’s most recently published book, Toxic Exposures, follows up on the ground-breaking work begun in No Safe Place, but expands the investigation to breast cancer, asthma, and gulf-war related health conditions. He also tells how scientists can successfully work with community groups to the mutual benefit of both sides to investigate local health problems. The book is off to a great start, receiving rave reviews in publications and critical acclaim from his peers.