Jazyk: | anglicky |
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Počet stran: | 384 |
Formát: | 15,3 x 23,4 cm |
Nakladatel: | Bloomsbury |
Vazba: | měkká |
Cena: | 399,00 Kč |
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Jazyk: | anglicky |
---|---|
Počet stran: | 384 |
Formát: | 15,3 x 23,4 cm |
Nakladatel: | Bloomsbury |
Vazba: | měkká |
Cena: | 399,00 Kč |
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An entertaining, eye-opening work of popular history that illuminates how death has changed across time
Causes of death have changed irrevocably across time. In the course of a few centuries we have gone from a world where disease or violence were likely to strike anyone at any age, and where famine could be just one bad harvest away, to one where in many countries excess food is more of a problem than a lack of it. Why have the reasons we die changed so much? How is it that a century ago people died mainly from infectious disease, while today the leading causes of death in industrialised nations are heart disease and stroke? And what do changing causes of death reveal about how previous generations have lived?
University of Manchester Professor Andrew Doig provides an eye-opening portrait of death throughout history, looking at particular causes - from infectious disease to genetic disease, violence to diet - who they affected, and the people who made it possible to overcome them. Along the way we hear about the long and torturous story of the discovery of vitamin C and its role in preventing scurvy; the Irish immigrant who opened the first washhouse for the poor of Liverpool, and in so doing educated the public on the importance of cleanliness in combating disease; and the Church of England curate who, finding his new church equipped with a telephone, started the Samaritans to assist those in emotional distress.
This Mortal Coil is a thrilling story of growing medical knowledge and social organisation, of achievement and, looking to the future, of promise.
Review
Surprisingly upbeat . . . The chapters on plague are the most interesting in the book, perhaps because they are so resonant and show how lucky we are to live in the age of the vaccine . . . Each chapter looks at a cause of death, ranging from scurvy to car safety, alcoholism to yellow fever . . . Full of curious facts . . . Although the book is about death, Doig is optimistic. Look at how life expectancy has soared across the world and infant mortality rates have plummeted
― The TimesFascinating, clear-eyed . . . Woven through are a series of brilliant anecdotes of individual experiments, inventions and lethal misfortunes . . . Doig's attention to detail, personable style and clear explanations make the book easily accessible . . . The obvious beauty of This Mortal Coil is that in being a history of death, it is also a history of life, and a brilliant, fascinating one at that
― ScotsmanThe story of how we die is deeply entwined with all of science, technology, economics, global health, sociology and human behaviour - in other words, pretty much everything. Which amounts to a book that is profound and original
-- Daniel M. Davis, author of THE BEAUTIFUL CURE and THE SECRET BODYBig history meets biology in this meticulous chronicle of how death has shaped us, and how we have shaped it. Doig illuminates the historical and scientific idiosyncrasies behind our most universal experience explaining how, by trading plants and plagues, discovering continents and life-saving drugs, our collective past has determined our individual futures. If you're expecting a fascinating insight into why we die, This Mortal Coil delivers - but you'll also get an eye-opening account of how we've lived
-- Andrew Steele, author of AGELESSThe most fascinating book I've read in a long time. As much about how we live as how we die
-- Anna Mazzola, author of THE CLOCKWORK GIRLAbout the Author
ISBN/EAN: | 9781526624420 |
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Rok vydání: | 2022 |
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