Epidemics and Society: From the Black Death to the Latest Viruses
19.99 €
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This is the fascinating story of how epidemic diseases have shaped the development of our civilization, our social structure, the course of history, and our ideas about the beautiful and the hideous, about life and death, about our own possibilities and their limits.
It is not easy to believe, but today the main language of communication in North America might well be French rather than English, if the yellow fever virus had not once intervened. Modern cities would look very different if cholera vibrio had not been directly involved in their redevelopment and the tubercle bacillus had not been in charge of interior design. And probably, there would be many more peoples, languages and cultures in the world today, if it were not for measles and mumps that set sail from the shores of Europe together with the discoverers of the New Age. But the main thing is that right now pathogens are forming somewhere that can change the image of the future we draw for ourselves beyond recognition. Frank Snowden invites readers to look at the vast legacy left to us by infectious diseases and soberly assess the extent to which our society is responsible for past and future epidemic catastrophes.
It is not easy to believe, but today the main language of communication in North America might well be French rather than English, if the yellow fever virus had not once intervened. Modern cities would look very different if cholera vibrio had not been directly involved in their redevelopment and the tubercle bacillus had not been in charge of interior design. And probably, there would be many more peoples, languages and cultures in the world today, if it were not for measles and mumps that set sail from the shores of Europe together with the discoverers of the New Age. But the main thing is that right now pathogens are forming somewhere that can change the image of the future we draw for ourselves beyond recognition. Frank Snowden invites readers to look at the vast legacy left to us by infectious diseases and soberly assess the extent to which our society is responsible for past and future epidemic catastrophes.
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