MAN AGAINST GERMS

by A. L. Baron ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 22, 1957

Baron is not the poet of plague that Thucydides was- nor an expounder of microbes like Paul de Kruif- nor a dutiful searcher of medical history- nor even an informed reporter upon the new frontiers in research. Yet all these qualities do in part affect him. He is rhapsodic about cholera and rickettsia, describes the structure and behavior of germs and the problems in combating them, argues the case for pre-Columbian syphilis, and reviews ancient attitudes and clinical practice and follows up the latest vogue in the treatment of leprosy and polio. Baron, however, is arbitrary rather than selective. The particular germs he writes about are no more germane to his subject than any others. Discoveries and controversies in Koch's career tend to crowd out and smallpox is reduced to a citywide vaccination during a New York health scare. Baron expatiates, condenses, ramifies in an inexplicable way and what emerges is usually tantalizing but not always satisfying.

Pub Date: April 22, 1957

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Dutton

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1957

Categories: NONFICTION