The Life and Death of Smallpox
A History, Science book. The pacing of the writing is a little out of...
-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,...
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- Filetype: PDF
- Pages: 292 pages
- ISBN: 9780521845427 / 521845424
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More About The Life and Death of Smallpox
The pacing of the writing is a little out of whack. They start off very intricately in the earlier (and more dramatic) past of small pox; fast forward a century in a single paragraph, and then break into explaining how the Russians and Americans are the only two governments that even have live small pox material in the world--likely... Boring :( Excellent book about the history of smallpox, as well as the science of the disease and how it was eventually eradicated. One of the best books I read in 2009 by far. Well-written, easy to understand, and graphic enough to make you grateful that smallpox no longer troubles us.
