Pandemic Century: One Hundred Years of Panic, Hysteria, and Hubris

Scientists have been striving to prevent catastrophic outbreaks of infectious diseases since the 1918 Spanish influenza pandemic, but despite medical progress, viral and bacterial disasters continue to take us by surprise. Mark Honigsbaum's book, "The Pandemic Century," combines reportage with science and medical sociology to reconstruct epidemiological mysteries and the ecology of infectious diseases. It highlights the limits of scientific knowledge and the role of human behavior and technologies in the emergence and spread of microbial diseases.

\n Format: Hardback
\n Length: 464 pages
\n Publication date: 09 April 2019
\n Publisher: WW Norton & Co
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Scientists have long harbored a dream of preventing catastrophic outbreaks of infectious disease, dating back to the 1918 Spanish influenza pandemic. However, despite a century of medical progress, viral and bacterial disasters continue to surprise us, causing panic and dominating the news cycles. From the Spanish flu to the 1924 pneumonic plague outbreak in Los Angeles to the 1930 "parrot fever" pandemic, and more recently, the SARS, Ebola, and Zika epidemics, the past hundred years have been marked by a succession of unexpected pandemic alarms.

In his book, The Pandemic Century, Mark Honigsbaum combines reportage with the history of science and medical sociology to artfully reconstruct epidemiological mysteries and the ecology of infectious diseases. Through his storytelling, we meet dedicated disease detectives, obstructive or incompetent public health officials, and brilliant scientists often blinded by their own knowledge of bacteria and viruses. We also witness how fear of disease can exacerbate racial, religious, and ethnic tensions, even though, as epidemiologists Malik Peiris and Yi Guan write, "nature remains the greatest bioterrorist threat of all."

Like man-eating sharks, predatory pathogens are always present in nature, waiting to strike. When one is seemingly vanquished, others appear in its place. These pandemics serve as a reminder of the limits of scientific knowledge and the role that human behavior and technologies play in the emergence and spread of microbial diseases.

\n Weight: 808g\n
Dimension: 166 x 245 x 30 (mm)\n
ISBN-13: 9780393254754\n \n