Twelve Diseases That Changed Our World

by Sherman, Irwin W.

• ISBN13: 9781555814663
• ISBN10: 1555814662
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2007-08-21
• Publisher: Wiley

Summary

Diseases have significantly shaped the course of the world's history. From the fourteenth-century plague to HIV/AIDS today, diseases have fundamentally altered the shape of society, politics, and culture. In a sweeping, thoughtful account, Twelve Diseases That Changed Our World considers the history of twelve important diseases: their impact, their consequences, their costs, and the lessons, learned. Examining porphyria, hemophilia, blight, tuberculosis, cholera, smallpox, bubonic plague, influenza, malaria, yellow fever, syphilis, and AIDS, this book not only covers the diseases' histories but also addresses public health responses and societal upheavals. Historical perspectives on these diseases will be indispensable for a better understanding of how we and our forbearers survived the onslaught of "plagues" and how we might avoid their devastating consequences in the future.

Author Biography

Irwin W. Sherman, Professor Emeritus at the University of California, Riverside

Table of Contents

Preface	p. vii
The Legacy of Disease: Porphyria and Hemophilia	p. 1
The Irish Potato Blight	p. 19
Cholera	p. 33
Smallpox: the Speckled Monster	p. 50
Bubonic Plague	p. 68
Syphilis: the Great Pox	p. 83
Tuberculosis: the People's Plague	p. 104
Malaria	p. 130
Yellow Fever: the Saffron Scourge	p. 143
The Great Influenza	p. 158
AIDS: the 21st Century Plague	p. 174
Epilogue	p. 195
Notes	p. 199
Index	p. 207
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