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.

Table of Contents:
   Preface     xiii Chapter 1: Introduction: our debt to disease     1    Epidemics select genetic alterations     4    Every cloud has a silver lining: our debt to disease     6    Crowding and culling     8    The message of this book     11   Chapter 2: Where did our diseases come from?     13    Africa: homeland of mankind and malaria     13    Many human diseases originated in animals     17    Are new diseases virulent to start with?     24    Diseases from rodents     29    Leprosy is a relatively new disease     30    What goes around comes around     32   Chapter 3: Transmission, overcrowding, and virulence     33    Virulence and the spread of disease     33    Infectious and noninfectious disease     34    Many diseases become milder with time     40    Development of genetic resistance to disease     47    Hunting and gathering     56    How do microorganisms become dangerous?     60   Chapter 4: Water, sewers, and empires     67    Introduction: the importance of biology     67    Irrigation helps agriculture but spreads germs     68    The class system, water, and infection     69    The origin of diarrheal diseases     70    Cholera comes from the Indian subcontinent     71    Cholera and the water supply     72    The rise and fall of the Indus Valley civilization     74    Cities are vulnerable to waterborne diseases     76    Cholera, typhoid, and cystic fibrosis     78    How did disease affect the rise of Rome?     81    How much did malaria contribute to the fall of Rome?     83    Uncivilized humans and unidentified diseases     86    Bubonic plague makes an appearance     90   Chapter 5: Meat and vegetables     93    Eating is hazardous to your health     93    Hygiene in the home     96    Cannibalism is hazardous to your health     97    Mad cow disease in England     99    The political response     101    Mad cow disease in humans     102    Fungal diseases and death in the countryside     103    Fungal diseases and cereal crops     104    Religious mania induced by fungi     106    Catastrophes caused by fungi     109    Human disease follows malnutrition     110    Coffee or tea?     111    Opportunistic fungal pathogens     112    Friend or enemy     113   Chapter 6: Pestilence and warfare     115    Who kills more?     115    Spread of disease by the military     116    Is it better to besiege or to be besieged?     118    Disease promotes imperial expansion     120    Protozoa help keep Africa black     122    Is bigger really better?     123    Disease versus enemy action     125    Typhus, warrior germ of the temperate zone     126    Jails, workhouses, and concentration camps     129    Germ warfare     130    Psychology, cost, and convenience     131    Anthrax as a biological weapon     132    Amateurs with biological weapons are rarely effective     132    Which agents are used in germ warfare?     134    World War I and II     136    Germ warfare against rabbits     137    Germ warfare is unreliable     138    Genetic engineering of diseases     139   Chapter 7: Venereal disease and sexual behavior     141    Venereal disease is embarrassing     141    Promiscuity, propaganda, and perception     144    The arrival of syphilis in Europe     145    Relation between venereal and skin infections     148    AIDS is an atypical venereal disease     149    Origin of AIDS among African apes and monkeys     150    Worldwide incidence and spread of AIDS     151    The Church, morality, and venereal infections     154    Moral and religious responses to AIDS     155    Public health and AIDS     156    Inherited resistance to AIDS     158    The ancient history of venereal disease     159   Chapter 8: Religion and tradition: health below or heaven above?     163    Religion and health care     163    Belief and expectation     165    Roman religion and epidemics     166    Infectious disease and early religious practices     167    Worms and serpents     168    Sumerians, Egyptians, and ancient Greece     169    Hygiene and religious purity     171    Protecting the living from the dead     173    Diverting evil spirits into animals     175    Cheaper rituals for the poor     177    Vampires, werewolves, and garlic     178    Divine retribution versus individual justice     179    The rise of Christianity     181    Coptic Christianity and malaria     184    Messianic Taoism during the collapse of Han China     185    Buddhism and smallpox in first-millennium Japan     186    The European Middle Ages and the Black Death     187    The Great Plague of London     189    Loss of Christian faith in industrial Europe     190    Cleanliness is next to godliness     191   Chapter 9: Manpower and slavery     193    Legacy of the last Ice Age     193    The New World before contact     194    Indigenous American infections     195    Lack of domesticated animals in America     197    The first epidemic in the Caribbean     198    Epidemics sweep the American mainland     200    The religious implications     202    Deliberate use of germ warfare     203    Slavery and African diseases     204    Exposure of islands to mainland diseases     205    Cholera and good intentions     206    The issue of biological isolation     207    Spotted fevers and rickettsias     208    The origins of typhus are uncertain     209    What about the Vikings?     211   Chapter 10: Urbanization and democracy     213    Cities as population sinks     213    Viral diseases in the city     214    Bacterial diseases in the city     215    The Black Death     216    Climatic changes: the “Little Ice Age”     217    The Black Death frees labor in Europe     218    Death rates and freedom in Europe     219    The Black Death and religion     221    The White Plague: tuberculosis     223    The rise of modern hygiene     224    The collapse of the European empires     226    Resistant people?     227    How clean is too clean?     228    Where are we now?     229   Chapter 11: Emerging diseases and the future     231    Pandemics and demographic collapse     231    The various types of emerging diseases     232    Changes in knowledge     233    Changes in the agent of disease     233    Changes in the human population     234    Changes in contact between victims and germs     235    The supposed re-emergence of tuberculosis     236    Diseases are constantly emerging     237    How dangerous are novel viruses?     239    Transmission of emerging viruses     241    Efficient transmission and genuine threats     242    The history and future of influenza     243    The great influenza epidemic of 1918—1919     243    Disease and the changing climate     245    Technology-borne diseases     246    Emergence of antibiotic resistance     247    Disease and the food supply     250    Overpopulation and microbial evolution     251    Predicting the future     252    Future emerging diseases     254    Gloom and doom or a happy ending?     254   Further reading     257 Index     261