The Life and Death of Smallpox

ISBN-13: 9780521845427 / Angielski / Twarda / 2004 / 292 str.

Ian Glynn; Jenifer Glynn

Opis

"The most terrible of all the ministers of death." Thomas Macauley Mozart, Voltaire, Elizabeth I and Abraham Lincoln all had it--and survived. Millions did not. The scourge of smallpox affected rich and poor alike, killing many and disfiguring the rest. 'Cures' included bleeding, purging, oil of scorpions and even crabs' eyes. Edward Jenner's breakthrough in 1796 started the slow, often controversial, process of controlling the virus. By 1979 smallpox had become the first-ever disease to be eradicated. Yet, today, its possible use in biological warfare presents a major threat. This is an accessible account of the history, and possible future, of a terrifying disease. Ian Glynn is Professor of Physiology Emeritus at Cambridge University and Fellow of Trinity College. He is the author of An Anatomy of Thought (Oxford, 2000). Jenifer Glynn is a Cambridge historian and author of Tidings from Zion (Tauris, 2000).

Recenzje

"...a fascinating account..." - Teaching History, Michael Salevouris, Webster University

Spis treści

1. 'The most terrible of all the ministers of death'; 2. From myths to mummies; 3. Coming into focus: 0 – 1500 AD; 4. Smallpox in the age of discoveries: 1500 AD to 1700 AD; 5. News from the east; 6. Kicking against the pricks; 7. The heyday of inoculation; 8. From cuckoos to cowpox; 9. The world-wide spread; 10. Confusion and compulsion; 11. A hundred years on; 12. 'Bring hither the fatted calf'; 13. Sorting out the viruses; 14. Eradication: the beginning of the end; 15. 'Annihilation of the smallpox'; 16. 'And out of good still to find means of evil'.