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    The Pandemic Century: One Hundred Years of Panic, Hysteria, and Hubris
    The Pandemic Century: One Hundred Years of Panic, Hysteria, and Hubris
    The Pandemic Century: One Hundred Years of Panic, Hysteria, and Hubris
    Audiobook13 hours

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

    Written by Mark Honigsbaum

    Narrated by John Lee

    4.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Ever since the 1918 Spanish influenza pandemic, scientists have dreamed of preventing catastrophic outbreaks of infectious disease. Yet despite a century of medical progress, viral and bacterial disasters continue to take us by surprise, inciting panic and dominating news cycles. From the Spanish flu to the 1924 outbreak of pneumonic plague in Los Angeles to the 1930 "parrot fever" pandemic, through the more recent SARS, Ebola, and Zika epidemics, the last one hundred years have been marked by a succession of unanticipated pandemic alarms.

    In The Pandemic Century, a lively account of scares both infamous and less known, Mark Honigsbaum combines reportage with the history of science and medical sociology to artfully reconstruct epidemiological mysteries and the ecology of infectious diseases. We meet dedicated disease detectives, obstructive or incompetent public health officials, and brilliant scientists often blinded by their own knowledge of bacteria and viruses. 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 remind us of the limits of scientific knowledge, as well as the role that human behavior and technologies play in the emergence and spread of microbial diseases.

    Editor's Note

    Coronavirus…

    The 20th century was one full of technological gains that both helped combat and spread new infectious diseases. Mark Honingsbaum chronicles nine pandemics from the past century, revealing the importance of keeping mass hysteria under control along with the diseases.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHighbridge Company
    Release dateApr 9, 2019
    ISBN9781684419883
    The Pandemic Century: One Hundred Years of Panic, Hysteria, and Hubris

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    Reviews for The Pandemic Century

    4.5/5

    71 ratings5 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Excellent well documented book on a most timely topic. Very useful history of research and government attempts to limit the spread of infectious disease. A MUST READ.

      4 people found this helpful

    • 3/5
      Interesting read. I just feel that all the centuries, when looked at this granularly, could be considered pandemic centuries, so the conceit of the 1900s being especially bad is a bit shortsighted or a scare tactic. Let us not forget the black death nor all the cholera and dysentery, polio and smallpox, etc. I guess record keeping might have made the 1900s the century with the best statistics available.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Great overview of bacteria and viruses that have recently plighted humanity
    • 5/5
      Informative, fascinating, and perfectly executed. I’ve listed to different chapters every night, multiple times, every evening for over a month.
    • 4/5
      This book takes an historical look at pandemics, starting with the Spanish Flu and ending with the Zika virus outbreak in 2015. I'm told a later version of the book has been released with a chapter on the current COVID-19 pandemic. I really enjoyed this book. I learned a lot. I didn't know there was a plague outbreak in L.A. in 1924 and had never heard of parrot fever. I also liked reading about the AIDS and SARS pandemics, which I remember well...it gave me a new perspective.What I struggled with was the author's use of scientific and medical terminology without defining the terms. I spent a fair bit of time on Google while reading some sections. But, all in all, I thought it worth the effort.The book is, on one hand, terrifying. We learn to deal with one pandemic only to fall prey to another. As humans continue to encroach on wildlife habitats, it seems we will unleash more viruses. And throughout history, we have politicians denying the existence of pandemics and people who refuse to modify behaviours to reduce risk. On the other hand, the book was comforting. We have survived past pandemics, and we will continue to do so. The dedication of medical researchers -- their intelligence, perseverance and courage --- has always been amazing.