Aided by an extensive range of photographs and illustrations, the author shows how the various properties of sand and its location in the earths crust are diagnostic clues to understanding the dynamics of the earth's surface. The evolution of public health from a field that sought only to limit the spread of acute communicable diseases to one who's goals include health maintenance, wellness, and environmental conditions--and how this evolution fits into the framework of American social, political, and economic developments. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Includes section, "Recent book acquisitions" (varies: Recent United States publications) formerly published separately by the U.S. Army Medical Library.

Traces the development of the sanitary and health problems of New YorkCity from earliest Dutch times to the culmination of a nineteenth-century reform movement that produced theMetropolitan Health Act of 1866, the forerunner of the present New YorkCity Department of Health. Professor Duffy shows the city's transition from a clean and healthy colonial settlement to an epidemic-ridden community in the eighteenth century, as the city outgrew its health and sanitation facilities. He describes the slow growth of a demand for adequate health laws in the mid-nineteenth century, leading to the establishment of the first permanent health agency in 1866."