"Kingfisher Knowledge" is a groundbreaking series for readers hungry for information on today's hot topics. Lively, engaging text, packed with information, accompanies stunning photographs that enhance each chapter. Amazing, state-of-the-art digital artwork guides readers into the fascinating heart of the subject. This learning adventure does not stop there - information panels throughout lead the reader to further discovery. Each chapter offers website links, book lists, places to visit and career information. "Epidemics & Plagues" takes an in-depth look at epidemics and plagues past and present, finding out about the big killer diseases and what happens when they spread rapidly and affect large numbers of people. It conveys the sad yet gripping histories of the Black Death of 13th-century Europe, the Great Plague of London, the devastating smallpox epidemics of 18th-century America and the flu epidemic that followed the First World War. It peers under the microscope at the agents that cause smallpox, influenza, cholera, tuberculosis, AIDS and malaria, examines the science to find out why they spread so quickly and what might be done to stop them. It also looks at history and legend to get an idea of why people have always been so frightened by the threat of epidemics and plagues.

 

This book is part of a book series called Kingfisher Knowledge .

There are 64 pages in this book. This book was published 2006 by Pan Macmillan .

Denise Grady has been a science reporter for The New York Times since 1998. In that time she has written more than 500 articles about medicine and biology. In 1998, she covered the Hantavirus outbreak in New Mexico, and she recently travelled to Angola to report on an outbreak of Marburg virus there. She lives in Westchester, New York, USA. Richard Walker is an award-winning science writer and is the author of a wide range of

This book has the following chapters: 1 HALF TITLE; 2-3 TITLE; 4-5 IMPRINT & CONTENTS; 6 FOREWORD; 7 CHAPTER ONE: Death and disease; 8-9 First epidemics; 10-11 Powerful pathogens; 12-13 Person to person; 14-15 Defence force; 16-17 Disease detectives; 18-19 Childhood scourges; 20-21 Bad eating; 22-23 Famine and blight; 24 Summary and information panel; 25 CHAPTER TWO: Plagues and pestilence; 26-27 The Black Death; 28-29 Medieval sickness; 30-31 The great pox; 32-33 Vulnerable to attack; 34-35 Plague in London; 36 Summary and information panel; 37 CHAPTER THREE: Old and new; 38-39 White death; 40-41 Pandemic cholera; 42-43 Public health; 44-45 Endemic diseases; 46-47 Colds and flu; 48-49 Fatal flu; 50-51 Beating smallpox; 52-53 Germ warfare; 54-55 HIV and AIDS; 56-57 Future epidemics; 58 Summary and information panel; 59-61 Glossary; 62-63 Index; 64 Acknowledgements.