"from Guinea Pig to Computer Mouse fully lives up to its promise to provide a comprehensive and up-to-date collection of resources concerning curricular transformation (rather than mere curriculum development) and alternatives to the harmful use of animals in education. The four main sections (the philosophy of curricular transformation, case studies, alternatives file, and further resources) complement each other, not only to inform and empower the sympathetic reader, but also to challenge those influential power-bases which seek to defend the status quo and insist that hands-on dissection and vivisection are essential elements in biomedical education.

I studied zoology and comparative anatomy at Oxford University in the late 1950s, when ‘animals’ consisted mainly of skeletons and static displays in the University Museum, preserved bodies to be dissected, and diagrams in books. It was not until I saw David Attenborough’s Life on Earth on BBC Television many years later that I could truly appreciate the real lives of all the species about which I had had to learn so much anatomical detail.

The students of today are more fortunate, in having a wealth of opportunities to appreciate how animals of many kinds are adapted to their natural life-styles and habitats, without the need to keep them in confined conditions, subject them to painful experiments or kill them – provided that their teachers have the desire and the wherewithal to provide them with access to the amazing range of multimedia resources which are now available, as listed in this book.

I very much hope that this book will empower its readers of all kinds to succeed in accomplishing the curricular transformation in biomedical education which is so badly needed, for the benefit of science and humanity, as well as for the welfare of animals which are still so often seen as mere tools for use at our convenience."

Prof. Michael Balls, PhD

Chairman of the Trustees, Fund for the Replacement of Animals in Medical Experiments (FRAME); Emeritus Professor, University of Nottingham; from 1993-2002, Head of the European Commission’s European Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods (ECVAM)

"Information, innovation and inspiration on almost every page… Along with details of over 500 state-of-the-art alternatives, this book offers intelligent, original and well-argued essays explaining why and how to alter the educational process to the benefit of students, teachers, animals and the life sciences… Very impressive in its quality and scope."

Gill Langley, PhD

Scientific Adviser to the Dr Hadwen Trust for Humane Research

"A vigorous, thoughtful book on a serious contemporary issue. Methods for teaching the life sciences without exploiting living animals have been developing fast, urged on by student demand and helped by technologies such as computer simulation. The alternatives described here are not less but more effective than their traditional counterparts… This is a book of genuinely humane science – a remarkable achievement."

Mary Midgley, PhD

Philosopher and author of ‘Animals And Why They Matter’

"from Guinea Pig to Computer Mouse provides a wealth of creative, effective, and well-documented alternatives to the harmful use of animals in life science education… a must-read for anyone involved in dissection or other animal use for teaching or training purposes."

Barbara Smuts, PhD

Biologist and feminist, Department of Psychology, University of Michigan