Roy G. Beran – Legal and Forensic Medicine

Описание

This book started out as a proceedings book for the Australasian College of Legal
Medicine’s Annual Scientific Meeting in 2010. This conference was entitled
“Legal and Forensic Medicine at the End of the First Decade of the 21st Century.”
It was supposed to be a quick and simple publication to coincide with my stepping
down from the presidency of the College after a decade at the helm.
The conference itself, held at Sydney University, was an exciting program,
including some of the best known authorities in legal and forensic medicine in
Australasia. It demonstrated how far we had evolved but also how far we still had to
travel. The compilation of the various papers into book chapters motivated much
greater commitment to produce a more comprehensive reference text, which
incorporated the vast activities of the College, including topics from its basic law
intensives, its practical law intensives, and its expert witness programs.
It soon became apparent that what started as a simple “quick and dirty” reporting
of a conference had much more to offer. The Australasian experience with the
development of legal and forensic medicine was being mirrored around the world.
It soon became apparent that there was so much more both to teach and to learn.
It was obvious that a book focused solely on Australasia was too restrictive and
this realization generated the far more ambitious goal of compiling a lexicon of
world experience.
Using my various roles in the World Association for Medical Law, which
culminated in being honored to become its secretary-general, it was possible to
persuade international experts and authorities to contribute chapters to this book.
This no longer was a simple report of a conference but became a massive
undertaking requiring coordination and international cooperation between authors,
the editor, the publishers and various other people along the fascinating road that
has led to the production of this book.
This book has grown in size and magnitude and has covered a breadth of topics
in legal and forensic medicine dealing with the same topic but with quite different
approaches and perspectives. It has mapped out the evolution of the discipline
from an international appreciation that different cultures exert different influences
on its development.
While the compilation of this book has been a major undertaking and has
consumed many more hours than was originally envisaged, it has been a labor of
love and learning. It behooves me to thank each and every contributor to this book from the many authors, the publishers, those who have suggested others to
contribute, and you, the readers, who comprise the ultimate audience for whom
this compilation was designed.
I must particularly thank all the authors who gave selflessly of their time and
effort. I can only apologize that I could not give more in return! I need to apologize
to those for whom I modified their style and at times even the content to some of
the chapters. Most importantly, I have to thank Maureen, my devoted and
long-suffering wife, and my family for tolerating the many hours devoted to the
preparation of this major undertaking. I can only hope the finished product justifies
everyone’s efforts and energies demanded to realize the fruition of the project.