New Guinea Tapeworms and Jewish Grandmothers: Tales of Parasites and People (Paperback)

by Robert S. Desowitz (Author) "Some time ago, while at London's Heathrow Airport on the way to Burma, I had occasion to use what the English genteelly refer to as..." (more)
Key Phrases: human anisakiasis, human babesiosis, blackfly vector, New Guinea, West African, United States (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
Dr. Desowitz tells many wise and important things about the health problems of the Third World . . . and of our own world. Fortunately, he presents his views in the form of highly entertaining stories that reveal how the life complexities of the microbial agents of disease are more than matched by the oddities of human behavior. (Rene Dubos )

Product Description
The medical tapestry of the world is full of organisms too small to see, carried by flying and creeping creatures too numerous to eradicate.
A while ago, DDT and the antimalarial drug chloroquine seemed sure to make us all safe from such invisible assault.

It was not to be. The mosquito has become resistant to DDT; malaria is on the rise; although tapeworms rarely turn up any longer in the most lovingly prepared New York City gefilte fish, a worm may inhabit your sashimi; some strains of gonorrhea actually thrive on penicillin; there is even a parasite for the higher tax brackets—the "nymph of Nantucket"; and there are new ailments—legionnaire's disease, Lassa fever, and new strains of influenza.

In the long run, one might bet on the insects and the germs. Meanwhile Dr. Robert Desowitz has written a delightful and instructive book. .

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Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: W.W. Norton & Co. (May 17, 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393304264
• ISBN-13: 978-0393304268
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #147,163 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Anecdotal Discussion of Parasitology, July 30, 1998

By	[e-mail] (Orion Nebula) - See all my reviews

This is a quick read understandable to anyone who has taken college biology. Desowitz's presentation is primarily anecdotal this makes for quick reading, but also whets the appetite for more information. I recommend "Yellow Fever, Black Goddess : The Coevolution of People and Plagues" by Chrisopher Wills for a more in-depth and contemporary discussion of mosquito-borne parasites and the evolution of disease.

8 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars excellent. highly readable, required reading for pre-meds!, October 29, 1996

By A Customer

Highly readable! An engaging look into the secret world of parasites and our changing world. This will amaze and startle those who fell asleep in biology class

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Parasitology can be fun, July 30, 2001

By	Linda Oskam "dutch-traveller" (Amsterdam Netherlands) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Parasitology is by a lot of scientists and doctors in the western world considered to be an outpost, an area where you are going to work if you are not too serious about your career. Moreover, all those parasites have completely outlandish names which you could mostly not remember, even if your life depended on it.

Apart from the fact that parasites are really important pathogens in developing countries, they are also coming more and more to the western world as well, with increased travel and worldwide business, so a good reason to know more about them.

The stories in the books from Mr. Desowitz show that parasites are not only an interesting study objects, but that you can write very funny stories about them as well. This is probably one of the best books to get people interested in parasites, namely wrting stories which you can remember (and tell people on birthday parties) even when you are not an accomplished parasitologist.