MAGIC BULLETS

by Louis Sutherland ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 2, 1956

An excellent survey of microbes covers the various effects they have had on man through the centuries, the various effects man has had on them, and is imbued with a fine sense of the drama and excitement involved in their study. The book's imaginative approach to its subject can be gaged by such examples as these: one of Harper Johnson's striking pencil drawings depicts a scientist quietly seated at his microscope and, in the background, a witchdoctor typifying another method of disease control; in the text, the simple statement that microbes viewed through a lens are one of the great sights of the world carries the conviction that seeing them is indeed like coming across the pyramids or the Pacific Ocean for the first time. It is this feeling of excitement and discovery that accompanies material on the ancient attitudes toward disease, the gradual revelation of truth through Lippershey, Leeuwenhock and Linnaeus, the microbes themselves- disease bearing and beneficial, how they attack and are fought off by humans and the weapons modern medicine has invented to help the battle. Thorough and inspired.

Pub Date: Aug. 2, 1956

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Little, Brown

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1956

Categories: NONFICTION