Searching for Safety

Searching for Safety is a bold, multifaceted statement about how to improve safety and health. . . . Wildavsky has issued a ringing, impassioned challenge to the field. . . . We should be deeply indebted to Wildavsky for forcing us to search for difficult answers by asking tough questions.

Jerome Rothenberg, Critical Review

This is a fascinating attack on some of the conventional wisdom regarding safety. Wildavsky counterposes the ideas of anticipation (in which serious dangers have been eliminated in advance) and resilience (in which experimentation courts danger and safety simultaneously). In a well-written discourse, Wildavsky argues this latter, counterintuitive, case at length and in persuasive logical detail... Most highly recommended for collections in regulation, environmental protection, and public policy. For upper-division undergraduates, graduate students, and faculty.

E. Lewis, Choice