false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174229802m/371062.jpg 371062 9 There are few topics more distressing than disease, yet there are few books more darkly delightful than this timeless classic about the histories of microbial diseases, rats, and lice, and the scientists and doctors who combatted them. First published in 1934 and still in print, this book combines science, history, biography, literature, and other fields into an elegant but grim package of broad erudition and darker humor. Here are two representative passages. <P> <I><BLOCKQUOTE> ...[I]nfectious disease is merely a disagreeable instance of a widely prevalent tendency of all living creatures to save themselves the bother of building, by their own efforts, the things they require. Whenever they find it possible to take advantage of the constructive labors of others, this is the path of least resistance. The plant does the work with its roots and its green leaves. The cow eats the plant. Man eats both of them; and bacteria (or investment bankers) eat the man.... <P> ...[T]he natural history of the rat is tragically similar to that of man ... some of the more obvious qualities in which rats resemble men--ferocity, omnivorousness, and adaptability to all climates ... the irresponsible fecundity with which both species breed at all seasons of the year with a heedlessness of consequences, which subjects them to wholesale disaster on the inevitable, occasional failure of the food supply.... [G]radually, these two have spread across the earth, keeping pace with each other and unable to destroy each other, though continually hostile. They have wandered from East to West, driven by their physical needs, and--unlike any other species of living things--have made war upon their own kind. The gradual, relentless, progressive extermination of the black rat by the brown has no parallel in nature so close as that of the similar extermination of one race of man by another... </BLOCKQUOTE></I> Elsewhere in the book, Zinsser is the equal of our greatest contemporary popular science writers, but as the above passages prove, he has a rather unique style. 1164781 1935 Rats, Lice, and History: Being a Study in Biography, Which, After Twelve Preliminary Chapters Indispensable for the Preparation of the Lay Reader, Deals With the Life History of Typhus Fever total:72|5:34|4:19|3:19|2:0|1:0| 72 303 124 15 5 1 false false Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 1994 Fri Apr 25 15:51:08 -0700 2008 Fri Apr 25 15:53:51 -0700 2008 ___________________...more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Sep 26 00:00:00 -0700 2006 Tue Mar 18 23:11:35 -0700 2008 Tue Mar 18 23:12:13 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 1998 Thu Apr 16 01:33:06 -0700 2009 Thu Apr 16 10:46:58 -0700 2009 1 3 0 false false Tue Sep 10 00:00:00 -0700 2002 Wed Jul 29 08:00:04 -0700 2009 Wed Jul 29 08:02:29 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 1995 Tue Mar 17 15:48:00 -0700 2009 Tue Mar 17 15:51:12 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Wed Mar 18 16:37:11 -0700 2009 Wed Mar 18 16:42:47 -0700 2009 a facinating book written for anyone.]]> 4 0 false false Tue Jun 02 17:47:21 -0700 2009 Tue Jun 02 17:49:19 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 1974 Tue Apr 03 04:27:58 -0700 2007 Wed May 16 15:29:17 -0700 2007 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun Nov 16 11:44:36 -0800 2008 Thu Dec 18 11:00:22 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Thu Apr 05 16:58:10 -0700 2007 Wed Apr 11 14:17:34 -0700 2007 more...]]> 5 0 false false Mon Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Wed Oct 31 05:38:51 -0700 2007 Wed Oct 31 05:40:16 -0700 2007
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