
Viruses, Plagues, and History
Past, Present, and Future
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Narrated by:
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L.J. Ganser
The story of viruses and humanity is a story of fear and ignorance, of grief and heartbreak, and of great bravery and sacrifice. Michael Oldstone tells all these stories as he illuminates the history of the devastating diseases that have tormented humanity, focusing mostly on the most famous viruses.
Oldstone begins with smallpox, polio, and measles. Nearly 300 million people were killed by smallpox in this century alone and the author presents a vivid account of the long campaign to eradicate this lethal killer. Oldstone then describes the fascinating viruses that have captured headlines in more recent years: Ebola, Hantavirus, mad cow disease (a frightening illness made worse by government mishandling and secrecy), and, of course, AIDS. And he tells us of the many scientists watching and waiting even now for the next great plague, monitoring influenza strains to see whether the deadly variant from 1918 - a viral strain that killed over 20 million people in 1918-1919 - will make a comeback. For this revised edition, Oldstone includes discussions of new viruses like SARS, bird flu, virally caused cancers, chronic wasting disease, and West Nile.
Viruses, Plagues, and History paints a sweeping portrait of humanity's long-standing conflict with our unseen viral enemies. Oldstone's book is a vivid history of a fascinating field, and a highly reliable dispatch from an eminent researcher on the front line of this ongoing campaign.
©2010 Michael B. A. Oldstone (P)2018 TantorListeners also enjoyed...




















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Great read even if you're not a scientist.
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Informative
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Must Read on Virology and Public Health
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Good, if heavy
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Great Narrator!
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What I have written above notwithstanding, the author through a series of chapters devoted to specific disease entities such as chikungunya, yellow fever, poliomyelitis, measles, HIV, influenza and others, does make a very strong case for two very important concepts that I would like to not leave unmentioned.
The first is the role of serendipity in the discovery process. Science is a conglomeration of many things happening at the same time and discoveries in everything from fluid dynamics and plastics and nuclear physics combine in often accidental ways and build upon each other in a way that makes a discovery possible that was not possible before, but no more likely except for the hodge podge of a vast array of researchers sloppily pursuing different aims. On more than one occasion, an accidental or serendipitous discovery in one area influenced another which was supported by several other peripheral advancements. This argues strongly in favor of diverse, aggressive and courageous funding of a variety of science, because it's very difficult to predict where the next discovery or breakthrough will come from.
Secondly, another important factor and the pursuit of science and world health is the horrendous and inexcusable history played by primarily RELIGION, followed by politics and big moneyed interests from cattle farmers to exporters in the obfiscation of scientific inquiry, distraction and hysteria and the impeding of progress. The pursuit of money will not go away, nor will the unabashed pursuit of souls for one silly god or another. These forces together have made decisions and said things and have impacted our perception of the ill and public policy in a way that has led to countless millions of deaths over the centuries. The disappointing thing is that with each and every disease, the same voices rise up to block aggressively addressing the problem. Nationalists want their own assays used so they can make money, politicians don't want their country to get a bad name an religion . . . religion cannot resist the urge to label every disease as a scourge from god, everyone infected as a sinner and every treatment as against god's will. It is petty and exhausting and almost always gives way to sanity (eventually they back away from and forget their original objects and statements) but it confuses things and slows down recognition of disease. I don't want to rob people of their collective dellusions but these beliefs must be kept in its box and not allowed to impact public health policy.
One thing is certain. viruses will continue to stalk humans and it is only science as a candle in the darkness that can find the answers to push back against his never-ending struggle against biology. If you want a bright future then every effort should be made to fund, support and believe in science.
Good enough to educate
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C-19 is not really "unprecidented"
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an eye opener for today
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very informative!
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Impressive..!
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