Introduction : moonscape : the surgical intensive care unit -- 1. A caring ethic : nurses and the dilemma of powerlessness -- 2. The best of times, the worst of times : the residents -- 3. Diverse universes of medical discourse : the fellows -- 4. The attendings -- 5. Is death the enemy, or suffering? -- 6. Confronting death in the surgical intensive care unit -- 7. Intensive caring in New Zealand -- 8. Going gentle into that good night : death in Auckland -- 9. Focusing on the bottom line -- 10. The dominion of death -- App. "Hard" science, "soft" science, social science : the anxiety of methods