Germs, Genes, & Civilization: How Epidemics Shaped Who We Are Today (FT Press Science) [Hardcover]

David P. Clark (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0137019963 | ISBN-13: 978-0137019960 | Publication Date: May 22, 2010 | Edition: 1

In Germs, Genes and Civilization, Dr. David Clark tells the story of the microbe-driven epidemics that have repeatedly molded our human destinies. You'll discover how your genes have been shaped through millennia spent battling against infectious diseases. You'll learn how epidemics have transformed human history, over and over again, from ancient Egypt to Mexico, the Romans to Attila the Hun. You'll learn how the Black Death epidemic ended the Middle Ages, making possible the Renaissance, western democracy, and the scientific revolution. Clark demonstrates how epidemics have repeatedly shaped not just our health and genetics, but also our history, culture, and politics. You'll even learn how they may influence religion and ethics, including the ways they may help trigger cultural cycles of puritanism and promiscuity. Perhaps most fascinating of all, Clark reveals the latest scientific and philosophical insights into the interplay between microbes, humans, and society - and previews what just might come next.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Clark (Molecular Biology Made Simple and Fun) argues that microscopic bacteria, viruses, and fungi have played an enormous and largely unacknowledged role in human history. Beginning with Attila's attack of Rome, which was likely stopped by dysentery, and continuing through modern diseases such as AIDS and the Ebola virus, Clark investigates a large number of illnesses and uncovers the ways in which they have impacted historical events. The same genes that provide humanity with protection against some endemic diseases, Clark argues, may also cause sickle cell anemia and cystic fibrosis. With wit and humor, the author turns death, an ever-heavy topic, into an engrossing exploration of the course of mankind. Though Clark's lack of references will make it difficult for readers to gain additional information, there's much of interest in this chronicle of microbes through the ages.
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About the Author

David Clark was born June 1952 in Croydon, a London suburb. After winning a scholarship to Christ’s College, Cambridge, he received his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1973. In 1977, he earned his Ph.D. from Bristol University for work on antibiotic resistance. David then left England for postdoctoral research at Yale and then the University of Illinois. He joined the faculty of Southern Illinois University in 1981 and is now a professor in the Microbiology Department. In 1991, he visited Sheffield University, England, as a Royal Society Guest Research Fellow. The U.S. Department of Energy funded David’s research into the genetics and regulation of bacterial fermentation from 1982 till 2007. David has published more than 70 articles in scientific journals and graduated more than 20 masters and Ph.D. students. David is the author of Molecular Biology Made Simple and Fun, now in its third edition, as well as three more serious textbooks.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: FT Press; 1 edition (May 22, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0137019963
• ISBN-13: 978-0137019960
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (59 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #597,523 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

David Clark was born June 1952 in Croydon, a London suburb. After winning a scholarship to Christ's College, Cambridge, he received his B.A. in 1973. In 1977 got his PhD from Bristol University for work on antibiotic resistance. He then left England for postdoctoral research at Yale and then the University of Illinois. He joined the faculty of Southern Illinois University in 1981 and is now a professor in the Microbiology Department. In 1991 he visited Sheffield University, England as a Royal Society Guest Research Fellow. His research into the genetics and regulation of bacterial fermentation has been funded by the U.S. Department of Energy from 1982 till 2007. He has published over 70 articles in scientific journals and graduated over 20 master's and PhD students. He is unmarried and lives with two cats, Little George, who is orange and Ralph who is mostly black and eats cardboard. He is the author of Molecular Biology Made Simple and Fun, now in its third edition, as well as three more serious textbooks.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

54 of 58 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointingly shallow, March 27, 2011

By 

Molly (MO USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Germs, Genes, & Civilization: How Epidemics Shaped Who We Are Today (FT Press Science) (Hardcover)

I loved "Guns, Germs, and Steel" and was looking forward to another exciting book on the impact of disease on history. Unfortunately, this is not it. There are some great stories in this book, but overall it reads like a series of undergraduate lectures delivered with minimal fact-checking to an uncritical audience. In a book intended for non-scientists, it's appropriate to omit citations within the text, but no sources are listed anywhere, even for whole chapters and the most controversial claims. As teachers, we plead with students not to take claims at face value, but to look at the evidence. Books are listed at the end for "further reading," but no research articles. There's not much 21st century updating- surely the lovely stories about Helicobacter and language co-evolution and the scary ones about XDR-TB belong here. Prof. Clark knows his microbiology, but is incurious about human genetics, anthropology, and HIV epidemiology, to name just three fields central to his speculations. We are told (p. 15) that the sickle cell mutation is found "only in Africans indigenous to regions harboring P. falciparum malaria". This is just not true. The same mutation is found at relatively high frequencies in Greek, Saudi Arabian, East Indian, and other populations exposed to falciparum malaria; it has evolved independently at least five times. He speculates that differences in sexual permissiveness account for Christian vs Muslim differences in HIV prevalence rates in subSaharan Africa. For several years it's been known that circumcision is highly protective and explains most of these differences. "in Africa...AIDS will thin out the promiscuous and malnourished, and favor the spread of religious puritanism, particularly Islamic sects..." (p. 253). The book is full of this kind of disdainful and eugenic language. Dr Clark has his curmudgeonly peeves, which recur throughout; these include "political correctness," the "anti-smoking lobby", "homosexuals," working women (sloppy housekeepers, they expose their families to Salmonella), and the idea of human-caused global warming. (On p. 245, climate change is described as a natural long-term fluctuation). Did you know that automobile pollution kills germs? Really? Could be- but you will look in vain for a citation to this non-obvious factoid. The book's language is downright quaint. Not since the 1960's have scientists used terms like "savages," "primitive tribes", and "promiscuous." These have not been abandoned because of "political correctness," but because they are scientifically meaningless.

39 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Basic Overview of Epidemics & Civilization, August 10, 2010

By 

John Grove (Malibu, CA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Germs, Genes, & Civilization: How Epidemics Shaped Who We Are Today (FT Press Science) (Hardcover)

(What's this?)

A very generalized account of the history of epidemics and how they have changed civilization. Also, how these epidemics evolve and how we evolve resistance to them. Everything from malaria, Black Death, Mad Cow, Typhus, etc..

This is a very easy read with short chapters. I read where some reviewers criticize this book because of its lack of footnotes or supportive material. On this point I would agree, it is most definitely lacking in these areas. Though it may be accurate historically, it is rather hard to check up on the author's remarks.

That being said, I still found it generally informative even if it is somewhat speculative.

36 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A pox on all our houses, August 19, 2010

By 

Jennifer Smith (California, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Germs, Genes, & Civilization: How Epidemics Shaped Who We Are Today (FT Press Science) (Hardcover)

(What's this?)

Mr. Clark has written a book that discusses basic disease transmission and the results thereof in a way for the layperson to understand. He goes over the plagues that hit ancient Rome, Greece, Persia, etc. The belief in many religions that disease came from sin or evil spirits (or both) is also expounded upon in short, easy-to-read subsections in the chapter. There is also some scrying going on at the end, where Mr. Clark attempts to divine what sorts of diseases may be born from technology and future populations.

The strengths of the book are its accessibility for someone who may be a history buff but not much of an epidemiologist, and it certainly has interesting facts aobut how diseases wax and wane as microscopic critters make their way through us, leaving trails of death, disfigurement, and stronger immune systems.

The weakness of the book would be some of the writing. The author repeats himself often, sometimes only changing one word in a similar sentence on a nearby page. The repetition should have been done away with by an editor who knows better. The book could easily be 1/3 shorter than it is if the repetitions were taken out.

I've never written a book, and I do not have the sort of big brain that would allow me to become a professor of microbiology at a university, so I hate to nitpick someone else's work, but I wish the editor had done a better job here and I also wish there were footntotes so we could see where the information is coming from.