Man and Microbes: Disease and Plagues in History and Modern Times |  | Author: Arno Karlen
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Category: Book
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Rating:  17 reviews
Media: Paperback
Edition: Touchstone ed
Pages: 272
Number Of Items: 1
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Dimensions (in): 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.7
ISBN: 0684822709
Dewey Decimal Number: 614.409
EAN: 9780684822709
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| • | ISBN13: 9780684822709 | | • | Condition: NEW | | • | Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark. |
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Amazon.com Review
Whereas many popular books on microbes focus on contemporary pathogens and emerging epidemics, Arno Karlen's Man and Microbes provides a historical look at the coevolution of humans and microorganisms. Karlen speculates that infections are integral to the process of life itself, that the mitochondria in every animal cell, for instance, are likely descendants of infectious agents. He then traces the development of man from primitive hunter-gatherer to urban dweller to world traveler, pointedly analyzing how socio-ecological changes have contributed to the changing incidence of disease. With amazing detail, Karlen describes the origins of historical plagues (smallpox, cholera, influenza, polio, and others) as well as the emergence of scourges such as hemorrhagic fever (Ebola and its cousins), Lyme disease, Legionnaires' disease, and even the deep mysteries of retroviruses such as HIV.
Product Description
A noted medical historian places recent outbreaks of deadly diseases in historical perspective, with accounts of other alarming and recurring diseases throughout history and of the ways in which humans have adapted. Reprint. 17,500 first printing.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 17
 A disease progress report at the end of the 20th Century May 3, 2000
Anthony R. Dickinson (WashU Med School, USA)
14 out of 14 found this review helpful
Published in the UK as `Plague's Progress: A Social History of Man and Disease', Karlen provides the reader here with an excellent introduction to the topic of the natural, as well as social history of the most common human life-threatening diseases. Covered here are all the usual (as well as some more unusual) suspects, from mediaeval plagues to AIDS and CJD; from soldiers not warring due to disease outbreak, to war outbreak being signalled by disease. Although there are some one-liners for conspiracy theorists with regards man-made disease vectors, the principal thesis of this book is that new pandemic and epidemic outbreaks of disease result from changes in human and other microbe host behaviours and the situated environment(s) in which these changes take place. For example, changes in land usage, habitat (as much in the `home' as in the field), species interactions, development & redevelopment, etc.., necessarily give rise to novel ecological niches available for exploitation by any number of host/pathogenic organisms and disease vector transmission pathways. Karlen is correct to further emphasise the point that such opportunist developments and novel disease situations arise from constructive events (aircraft transportation of secondary hosts, air-conditioner habitats and overuse of antibiotics) as much as from destructive events (deforestation and animal extintions give rise to traditional host-parasite species shifts). A useful summary table is provided of the time-line of recent life-threatening contagious diseases, but I found myself annotating the margin with a few more details concerning each (e.g., secondary host - rodent, cattle, insect; virus/bacteria/protozoan organism etc) - all of which was nonetheless available in the text of the book. Although a delicate subject for those suffering from any of the conditions described here (both directly and by atives/carers nearby), Karlen presents both an informative and entertaining dialogue for the newcomer to the topic of disease - clearly accessible and in non-technical language for the lay reader looking for a clearer understanding of a life-threatening phenomena that is likely to always be with us in some form. If I were to have any grumbles, they would relate solely to a few of my own particular interests in a couple of theories given short thrift here. Such might include exposures to man-made/altered disease vectors (cf: Moreno; whether they be designed for plant, insect or human control via innoculation) and the theories put forward by writers such as Lyn Margulis (symbiotic evolution) and the more esoteric writings of Hoyle & Wickramasinge or Francis Crick. So much better informed concerning the role of natural, political and historical events influencing pandemic and epidemic disease evolution, following our reading of this Kaplan book one might be in a better position to explain our forgetting of the 1918 flu pandemic, the last widespread disease within living memory, taking a total number of lives far greater than the toll of the last century's World Wars combined. How, and whether, such information will be used to manage the future of our social behaviour, demography, medical practice, and our continuing scientific research culture, we must await the coming years to find out.References: Crick: Life Itself. Hoyle & Wickramasinge: Diseases from Space; Evolution from Space. Margulis & Fester: Symbiosis as a source of Evolutionary Innovation. Margulis & Sagan: Microcosmos. Moreno: Undue Risk.
A Microbe Primer! February 14, 2001
Kevin Spoering (Buffalo, Missouri United States)
17 out of 19 found this review helpful
This book briefly sketches plagues and infectious diseases, from ancient times and of earliest recorded writings, to the present day (1995). Some terrible times for humanity are included in this book, such as when 5000 people a day were dying in Rome around A.D. 251-266 from perhaps measles or smallpox plague, to present day AIDS. Arno Karlen writes in a style very easy to read. The science in this book seems to be excellent, you can learn a lot about how diseases are spread, from animals and insects to us, and between people, and how diseases mutate over time and people adapt to them so they are sometimes less virulent later than when first encountered. Also covered is how diseases are spread thru behavior and when man alters his environment, two examples being cities and agriculture. Many diseases are covered in this volume, if you are interested in reading more about any individual disease there are books on just about any one of them to learn more.
Very entertaining September 13, 2000
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I found this book both totally entertaining and very informative. As a biology major and history minor, I was entertained by both aspects of the book, and wasn't bored with all the biology facts, because it was written with both the serious biologist and the common person in mind. I recommend this book highly to anyone who wants a history of plagues.
A Fascinating and Frightening History of Disease June 15, 2004
Lady Murasaki (Washington, USA)
6 out of 7 found this review helpful
Arno Karlen's "Man and Microbes" is an informative and well-written account of the history of disease that is accessible to specialists and non-specialists alike. It is well-researched and it is written in the natural style of a storyteller. Karlen covers a wide span of time, starting off about five million years ago when our ancestors descended from the trees to the ground and finishing in the 1990s. He looks at a range of diseases, including the Mystery Disase of Pudoc, influenza, Lyme Disease, and AIDS, and looks at them through the themes of change (changes in environment, technology, interaction/behavior, lifestyle) and adaptation (human adaptation to disease and vice versa). Karlen ends the book on a hopeful note, and reminds the reader that while history shows so many instances of disease it also shows many instances of humans adapting to and dealing with disease. I was a little initimidated about reading this book, since I have a pathetic knowledge of science. However, I found the book very readable and I can honestly say that I have a greater appreciation for science and for the human ability to survive after having read the book. A must-read!
Very good overview of the history of infectious diseases July 1, 2003
Linda Oskam (Amsterdam Netherlands)
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
After "Plagues and peoples", a classical book by William McNeill that first appeared in 1975, I read this book, which was first published in 1995. The contents are more or less the same, but Arno Karlen has a more modern style of writing, making this book more readable. Even though the last chapters give at times a somewhat alarmist view of what we are heading for, the author gives a very good overview of the history of infectious diseases and also the "epidemic of epidemics" as he calls it which is happening right now: from AIDS to SARS and from West Nile virus to the return with a vengeance of tuberculosis. Due to the enormous population pressure, human mobility and the ever increasing demands we make on our environment, new diseases and their rapid spread are only a breath away.When one reads this book, it also becomes obvious how fast both the diseases and the medical science that has to fight them are developing: SARS was (of course) nowhere in sight in 1995 and the origin of prion diseases like mad cows' disease (which we now know is caused by the alteration of a protein that is always present in the brain) was still very uncertain at time. This book still is a very smooth read and definitely worth your time if you are interested in infectious diseases and their history.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 17
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