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Laddar... The Mosquito: A Human History of Our Deadliest Predator (utgåvan 2019)av Timothy C. Winegard (Författare)
VerksinformationThe Mosquito: A Human History of Our Deadliest Predator av Timothy C Winegard
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Gå med i LibraryThing för att få reda på om du skulle tycka om den här boken. Det finns inga diskussioner på LibraryThing om den här boken. Winegard tells the story of how mosquito-borne illnesses have impacted history. I read a lot of history, and I was actually hoping this book would have more biology in it. It does have some fascinating information about the mosquito life-cycle and how they spread disease, but I was hoping for more information about how they interact with the ecosystem. Instead, the book is basically a trip through history, looking at how illness, mostly malaria, has impacted events. I found this book to be a revelation. Some might quibble with scientific terminology or focus on particular of history, but mosquito-borne disease has killed half of all humans in history! Did you all know this already? Why is it not at the center of school history textbooks? Nearly every military struggle in history has had its outcome affected by mosquitos. Christianity as a religion was significantly shaped by the mosquito. The formation of the modern world, the Columbian Exchange, the slave trade, all these things were inexorably shaped by diseases like Malaria and Yellow Fever. Particularly in a time -as Winegard points out- when human defenses against maladies like Malaria are significantly weaker than they have been in the past, I find this to be a vital subject and an enthralling book. I picked this up on a trip to Kingston, travelling there with her on a weekend excursion. We found it in a local used bookshop, and while I intended to read it and then regift to that lovely librarian cum public servant, I instead read it aloud to her so we could both listen together. Winegard does a decent job of transiting us through time and continent to explore how mosquitos have shaped human experience, development, and history. As a retired soldier, and historian, one can tell he was drawn to anecdotes about the parasitic gnat and its effects on manoeuvre and combat. At times, this exploration felt a bit drawn out - with only cursory explorations of modern research and medicine. Recommended as a good read for the effects that our environment has on military operations. How our fleshy, vulnerable, spaceships truly are our Achilles heel; no matter how we may strive to overcome nature. inga recensioner | lägg till en recension
Why was gin and tonic the cocktail of choice for British colonists in India and Africa? What does Starbucks have to thank for its global domination? What has protected the lives of popes for millennia? Why did Scotland surrender its sovereignty to England? What was George Washington's secret weapon during the American Revolution? The answer to all these questions, and many more, is the mosquito. Across our planet since the dawn of humankind, this nefarious pest, roughly the size and weight of a grape seed, has been at the frontlines of history as the grim reaper, the harvester of human populations, and the ultimate agent of historical change. As the mosquito transformed the landscapes of civilization, humans were unwittingly required to respond to its piercing impact and universal projection of power. The mosquito has determined the fates of empires and nations, razed and crippled economies, and decided the outcome of pivotal wars, killing nearly half of humanity along the way. She (only females bite) has dispatched an estimated 52 billion people from a total of 108 billion throughout our relatively brief existence. As the greatest purveyor of extermination we have ever known, she has played a greater role in shaping our human story than any other living thing with which we share our global village. Inga biblioteksbeskrivningar kunde hittas. |
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Google Books — Laddar... GenrerMelvil Decimal System (DDC)595.77Natural sciences and mathematics Zoology Arthropoda Insects: Insecta, Hexapoda Diptera: flies, etc.Klassifikation enligt LCBetygMedelbetyg:
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But felt the author did a good job and provided an interesting look at crisper and the ethical questions that arise when confronted with the power to make a species extinct ( )