ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overall view of key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book intends primarily for those studying public health, in one form or another, at an introductory level and without specialist knowledge. It aims to make sense of the broad field of public health by disentangling a number of individual 'stand-alone' themes. The book attempts to avoid accusations of deterministic thinking in relation to deep-seated social forces. The field of public health has benefited significantly in recent years from the increasing attention it has received from scholars working within a variety of academic fields, in particular from those working in the social sciences. In order to begin to understand the forces shaping public health the book draws on the rich disciplinary research base, incorporating theoretical ideas from across the sociological, psychological, physiological and epidemiological studies of public health as the subject matter of each particular theme requires.
