Homeopathy - The Undiluted Facts: Including a Comprehensive A-Z Lexicon

This is the single most important English-language book on homeopathy. It contains all the pertinent information needed to build an accurate picture of homeopathy.It is “undiluted” in that a great deal of information is presented in a concise form, without extraneous material It is not, for example, a complete HISTORY of homeopathy, recounting biographies of all the prominent figures in many countries over the last 225 years.Thus, there is no discussion of Dr John Henry Clarke, whose virulent racism precludes him from mention in polite modern company anyway, but whose books, “Clinical Repertory” and “Materia Medica” were considered important texts in the homeopathic world.Nor is every book by every homeopathy writer reviewed – doing so would not usefully add to the factual information. Dr. Blackie’s “The Patient Not the Cure” gets a mention, but not the contemporaneous “Homeopathy” by Dr. Ruthven Mitchell. Ainsworths homeopathic pharmacy is spoken of, but not, unless I have missed it, Nelsons, another prominent UK homeopathic supplier.Professor Ernst is uniquely qualified to produce such a work, being a research scientist, medical practitioner and, in early days as a young doctor having practiced homeopathy. As the world’s first Professor of Complementary Medicine, a scientific academic research post, he and his department carried out primary research and metanalyses. As any proper scientist should, over the decades he has followed where the evidence led. Not everyone with an interest in homeopathy has been willing to do the same.I won’t attempt extensive description of the text here – I recommend careful attention to the book itself. Theories about proposed mechanisms of action are covered, and the state of the evidence on whether there IS any action beyond placebo.For additional little details on homeopathy, it might also be illuminating to read the excellent “Trick or Treatment”, co-authored by Professor Ernst and Dr Simon Singh.If you want a book to tell you that Sepia is the washerwoman’s remedy, giving not a scrap of evidence, this isn’t it! If however, you want a book that will give you all the pertinent factual information on homeopathy, rather than fanciful theory and mere assertions, this is the one.

For once, we get an alternative health care book that says "facts" or "truth" and they really ARE facts and truths :-) ! Written in a way that it's easy to follow for a layman too.

I had already readied the book, I just needed my own copy. Anyway, a very informative book about the subject. Worth every cent.

The author is not an advocate of Homeopathy. The book begins with a promising history of Homeopathy and the people who devised it. Then it mentions different theories of how various practitioners think Homeopathy works but it claims that none of those theories are proven. According to the book, nobody really knows how Homeopathy works, if indeed it works at all. This book is saying that scientifically speaking, there's no way it can work. It doesn't offer any tuition or self help about using Homeopathy. It simply states the "undiluted facts" that (according to "science") Homeopathy doesn't work. The book's "Lexicon of Homeopathy" section includes a half page definition for the word "Charlatan" (a dishonest person). Half of the book is taken up by this "Lexicon". This book might be useful if you want to learn why skeptics claim Homeopathy doesn't work but it won't teach you anything about how to use Homeopathy to cure physical illnesses. If I had known the book was so negative towards Homeopathy - I wouldn't have bought it... but nevertheless, it was readable up to a point.

Ernst provides a clear and rational explanation of the nature and history of homeopathy; unsurprisingly, the subject fares poorly under a critical eye, relying as it does on unproven and illogical assumptions, inexplicable mechanisms, and tenets that defy basic principles of chemistry and physics. This is another one of Professor Ernst’s excellent works on so-called alternative medicine.