{"product_id":"ending-epidemics-isbn-9780262552974","title":"Ending Epidemics","description":"\u003cb\u003eHow scientists saved humanity from the deadliest infectious diseases—and what we can do to prepare ourselves for future epidemics.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAfter the unprecedented events of the COVID-19 pandemic, it may be hard to imagine a time not so long ago when deadly diseases were a routine part of life. It is harder still to fathom that the best medical thinking at that time blamed these diseases on noxious miasmas, bodily humors, and divine dyspepsia. This all began to change on a day in April 1676, when a little-known Dutch merchant described bacteria for the first time. Beginning on that day in Delft and ending on the day in 1978 when the smallpox virus claimed its last known victim, \u003ci\u003eEnding Epidemics\u003c\/i\u003e explains how we came to understand and prevent many of our worst infectious diseases—and double average life expectancy.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eEnding Epidemics\u003c\/i\u003e tells the story behind “the mortality revolution,” the dramatic transformation not just in our longevity, but in the character of childhood, family life, and human society. Richard Conniff recounts the moments of inspiration and innovation, decades of dogged persistence, and, of course, periods of terrible suffering that stir individuals, institutions, and governments to act in the name of public health. Stars of medical science feature in this drama, but lesser-known figures also play a critical role. And while the history of germ theory is central to this story, \u003ci\u003eEnding Epidemics\u003c\/i\u003e also describes the importance of everything from sanitation improvements and the discovery of antibiotics to the development of the microscope and the syringe—technologies we now take for granted.Preface: The Healing\u003cbr\u003e1: What the Draper Saw\u003cbr\u003e2: Deadly Preconceptions\u003cbr\u003e3: Foreign Bodies\u003cbr\u003e4: Precursors\u003cbr\u003e5: Ridiculous Diseases, Inconceivable Ideas\u003cbr\u003e6: Buying the Pox\u003cbr\u003e7: Slaying the Speckled Monster\u003cbr\u003e8: An Angel’s Trumpet\u003cbr\u003e9: The Great Sanitary Awakening\u003cbr\u003e10: Finding Pathogens\u003cbr\u003e11: The Semmelweis Reflex\u003cbr\u003e12: Making Sense of Cholera\u003cbr\u003e13: The Broad Street Pump\u003cbr\u003e14: Louis Pasteur: The Rising\u003cbr\u003e15: The Subtle Foe\u003cbr\u003e16: The Mystery of the Cursed Meadows\u003cbr\u003e17: A New Vaccine\u003cbr\u003e18: The Bible of Bacteriology\u003cbr\u003e19: Defining the Indefinable Something\u003cbr\u003e20: (Re)Discovering Cholera\u003cbr\u003e21: A Sacred Delirium \u003cbr\u003e22: Immunity and the Strangling Angel\u003cbr\u003e23: Deadly Carriers\u003cbr\u003e24: The Beast in the Mosquito\u003cbr\u003e25: Fit for Duty\u003cbr\u003e26: A Pathogen Too Far\u003cbr\u003e27: Midnight Work\u003cbr\u003e28: The Anti-Bacterial Revolution\u003cbr\u003e29: Penicillin\u003cbr\u003e30: Race to the Vaccine\u003cbr\u003e31: Zero Pox\u003cbr\u003eEpilogue\u003cbr\u003eAcknowledgments\u003cbr\u003eEndnotes\u003cbr\u003eIndex\u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\"[A] highly readable history of epidemic diseases and vaccinologists, from the first description of bacteria in 1676 to the eradication of smallpox in 1978.\u003cb\u003e\"\u003cbr\u003e—\u003ci\u003eNature\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e“Conniff gives us the development of immunology and antibiotics —famously the work of Louis Pasteur, Alexander Fleming, Robert Koch and Paul Ehrlich—in easy-to-swallow chunks.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003eTLS\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e“A dramatic, page-turning account of the grim, never-ending war waged by infections on humankind. And how we fought back, sometimes successfully, sometimes not.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e—Paul A. Offit, Professor of Pediatrics, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia; author of \u003ci\u003eYou Bet Your Life: From Blood Transfusions to Mass Vaccinations, the Long and Risky History of Medical Innovation\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“A taut interrogation of the centuries of labor that protected us from pathogens, a bitter lament for how quickly we abandoned our awareness of risk, and a stirring call for a new generation of disease fighters to take up the battle. \u003ci\u003eEnding Epidemics\u003c\/i\u003e drives home the post-COVID lesson of the peril of complacency.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e—Maryn McKenna, author of \u003ci\u003eBig Chicken\u003c\/i\u003e,\u003ci\u003e Superbug\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eBeating Back the Devil\u003c\/i\u003e; Senior Fellow, Center for the Study of Human Health, Emory University\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“\u003ci\u003eEnding Epidemics\u003c\/i\u003e is an important book, deeply and lovingly researched, written with precision and elegance, a sweeping story of centuries of human battle with infectious disease. Conniff is a brilliant historian with a jeweler’s eye for detail. I think the book is a masterpiece.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e—Richard Preston, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Hot Zone\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Demon in the Freezer\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e“A timely and highly readable account of humanity’s struggles and progress in the fight against infectious disease. Set across three centuries, from the birth of immunology to the antibiotic revolution, Conniff draws on the personal stories behind these great medical and scientific leaps. A fascinating read with powerful lessons for tackling today’s—and indeed future—epidemics.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e—Peter Piot, Former Director and Handa Professor of Global Health, London School of Hygiene \u0026amp; Tropical Medicine; author of \u003ci\u003eNo Time to Lose\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eAIDS: Between Science and Politics\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003eRichard Conniff is a National Magazine Award-winning writer for \u003ci\u003eSmithsonian\u003c\/i\u003e magazine, \u003ci\u003eThe Atlantic\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eNational Geographic\u003c\/i\u003e, and other publications, and a past Guggenheim Fellow. Among his many books are \u003ci\u003eThe Species Seekers: Heroes, Fools, and the Mad Pursuit of Life on Earth\u003c\/i\u003e; \u003ci\u003eSwimming with Piranhas at Feeding Time: My Life Doing Dumb Stuff with Animals\u003c\/i\u003e; \u003ci\u003eThe Natural History of the Rich: A Field Guide\u003c\/i\u003e; and, most recently, \u003ci\u003eHouse of Lost Worlds: Dinosaurs, Dynasties, and the Story of Life on Earth\u003c\/i\u003e. Conniff has been a commentator on NPR's\u003ci\u003e Marketplace \u003c\/i\u003eand a contributing opinion writer for the \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e.","brand":"The MIT Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46299830943973,"sku":"NP9780262552974","price":27.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780262552974.jpg?v=1767726272","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/ending-epidemics-isbn-9780262552974","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}