Life And Death Of Smallpox - Couverture rigide

Glynn, Ian; Glynn, Jenifer

Couverture rigide

ISBN 10 : 1861976089 ISBN 13 : 9781861976086

Editeur : Profile Books Ltd, 2004

Synopsis

No other disease has such a long, dramatic, and terrible history as smallpox. It is the first (and so far the only) disease to be totally eradicated. But the scourge may come back in biological warfare. From ancient Egypt, India and China, smallpox spread around the world. It defeated armies, relieved sieges, killed emperors, played havoc with dynasties, helped to establish Buddhism in Japan, and at about the time of Muhammad's birth it stopped Christian Abyssinians from capturing a still pagan Mecca. When individual epidemics were killing tens of thousands in the early 18th century, the adoption of the 'folk-medicine' practice of inoculating with smallpox itself gave some protection to those inoculated - but at the cost of spreading the infection. In the 1790s Edward Jenner's brilliant experiments in 'vaccinating' with cowpox brought hope, not only of saving lives but also of eventually eradicating the disease. The practice spread round the world astonishingly fast. It took over two hundred years to achieve world-wide eradication; and it remains a magnificent and so far a unique scientific and political achievement. But now smallpox is one of the first choices for international bio-terrorism. This book tells the fascinating and frightening story of this terrifying disease, from the pustules on the mummy of Ramses V to current anxieties - a brilliant mixture of history, science and politics.

A propos du livre

À propos des auteurs

Ian Glynn is Professor of Physiology at Cambridge and Fellow of Trinity College, an FRS and FRCP. Renowned for his work on the sodium pump, he is a fellow of the Royal Society, an honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians. His An Anatomy of Thought was published by Weidenfeld & Nicholson in 1999.

Jenifer Glynn is a Cambridge historian. She is the author of two books, including a biography of the Victorian publisher George Smith.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Profile Books Ltd
• Date d'édition: 2004
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 1861976089
• ISBN 13: 9781861976086
• Reliure: Relié
• Nombre de pages: 288
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: non disponible