Insects, Hygiene and History

Download or read book Insects, Hygiene and History written by James Ronald Busvine and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2015-11-19 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Busvine's introductory account of the evolutionary histories of insects and mites leads on to a fascinating study of human reactions to ectoparasites. It shows how the extent of man's curiosity about them and references to their prevalence provide a continuous commentary both on the history of biological science from Aristotle to the present day and on the modes and manners of ages past. Subjects of ribald verse, quack medicine and morbid imagination as well as literary symbols of piety, love and human insignificance, this is also the history of how medicine discovered that ectoparasites acted as transmitters for epidemic diseases.