The Power of Plagues presents a rogues' gallery of epidemic- causing microorganisms placed in the context of world history. Author Irwin W. Sherman introduces the microbes that caused these epidemics and the people who sought (and still seek) to understand how diseases and epidemics are managed. What makes this book especially fascinating are the many threads that Sherman weaves together as he explains how plagues past and present have shaped the outcome of wars and altered the course of medicine, religion, education, feudalism, and science. Cholera gave birth to the field of epidemiology. The bubonic plague epidemic that began in 1346 led to the formation of universities in cities far from the major centers of learning (and hot spots of the Black Death) at that time. And the Anopheles mosquito and malaria aided General George Washington during the American Revolution. Sadly, when microbes have inflicted death and suffering, people have sometimes responded by invoking discrimination, scapegoating, and quarantine, often unfairly, against races or classes of people presumed to be the cause of the epidemic. Pathogens are not the only stars of this book. Many scientists and physicians who toiled to understand, treat, and prevent these plagues are also featured. Sherman tells engaging tales of the development of vaccines, anesthesia, antiseptics, and antibiotics. This arsenal has dramatically reduced the suffering and death caused by infectious diseases, but these plague protectors are imperfect, due to their side effects or attenuation and because microbes almost invariably develop resistance to antimicrobial drugs. The Power of Plagues provides a sobering reminder that plagues are not a thing of the past. Along with the persistence of tuberculosis, malaria, river blindness, and AIDS, emerging and remerging epidemics continue to confound global and national public health efforts. West Nile virus, Lyme disease, and Ebola and Zika viruses are just some of the newest rogues to plague humans. The argument that civilization has been shaped to a significant degree by the power of plagues is compelling, and The Power of Plagues makes the case in an engaging and informative way that will be satisfying to scientists and non-scientists alike.

This book discusses the supernatural in Scripture, including the scope and significance of events and embodiments.

APOCalypse 2500 RPG Game masters can utilize the theories and unique twists on what zombification is in this book to tailor the various flesh-eating monsters to suit any game scenario or plot element. I have gone into some depth as to the behavior of both zombies and the plague as well as how it mutates and what it really is. This book has become far more than a single monster reference as it creates a complete resource and new reality within the world of APOCalypse 2500. Included in this volume is a complete zombie adventure scenario set in an abandon walled city, lost to the plague centuries ago.

A hermeneutics book for the common person. Readers will appreciate the scholarly, yet readable style of Roy Zuck, former Professor of Bible Exposition at Dallas Theological Seminary.

This title highlights the impact that the plague epidemic in Italy between 1575 and 1578 had on the medical writers and practitioners of the time. He asserts that these writers anticipated modern epidemiology and created the structure for plague classics of the next century.