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Plagues and Epidemics
Until recently, plagues were thought to belong in the ancient past. Now there are deep worries about global pandemics. This book presents views from anthropology about this much publicized and complex problem.
The authors take us to places where epidemics are erupting, waning, or gone, and to other places where they have not yet arrived, but where a frightening story line is already in place. They explore public health bureaucracies and political arenas where the power lies to make decisions about what is, and is not, an epidemic. They look back into global history to uncover disease trends and look ahead to a future of expanding plagues within the context of climate change.
The chapters are written from a range of perspectives, from the science of modeling epidemics to the social science of understanding them. Patterns emerge when people are engulfed by diseases labeled as epidemics but which have the hallmarks of plague. There are cycles of shame and blame, stigma, isolation of the sick, fear of contagion, and end-of-the-world scenarios. Plague, it would seem, is still among us.
The authors take us to places where epidemics are erupting, waning, or gone, and to other places where they have not yet arrived, but where a frightening story line is already in place. They explore public health bureaucracies and political arenas where the power lies to make decisions about what is, and is not, an epidemic. They look back into global history to uncover disease trends and look ahead to a future of expanding plagues within the context of climate change.
The chapters are written from a range of perspectives, from the science of modeling epidemics to the social science of understanding them. Patterns emerge when people are engulfed by diseases labeled as epidemics but which have the hallmarks of plague. There are cycles of shame and blame, stigma, isolation of the sick, fear of contagion, and end-of-the-world scenarios. Plague, it would seem, is still among us.
- GenresAnthropologyNonfiction
430 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
February 11, 2013
Clement Leveau 1/14/13
7-1 BSGE
Plagues
This is a very interesting book because it tells about the terrible epidemics that have roamed history from the Egyptians to the modern era. This book started off describing the basic forms of bacteria and viruses. It also gave you a health lesson because it described how to not catch the illnesses they talked about in the book. After chapter 1 was about that there was chapter 2 which was about the different viruses during the middle ages. The chapter mainly focused on the Black Death a sickness that killed 1/3 of Europe’s population.
This book is very historic book and it is very intriguing. I would have certainly been scare if I lived in the medival period. However one of the complaints I have with this book is that it does not enough information on each page. For example I wanted to know more about the part about dieseieses in medival times but the book covered it very little.
7-1 BSGE
Plagues
This is a very interesting book because it tells about the terrible epidemics that have roamed history from the Egyptians to the modern era. This book started off describing the basic forms of bacteria and viruses. It also gave you a health lesson because it described how to not catch the illnesses they talked about in the book. After chapter 1 was about that there was chapter 2 which was about the different viruses during the middle ages. The chapter mainly focused on the Black Death a sickness that killed 1/3 of Europe’s population.
This book is very historic book and it is very intriguing. I would have certainly been scare if I lived in the medival period. However one of the complaints I have with this book is that it does not enough information on each page. For example I wanted to know more about the part about dieseieses in medival times but the book covered it very little.
December 24, 2016
Read for my Evolution of Humans and Disease class- interesting and well-connected essays.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews