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rachelmanija Apr. 22nd, 2020 12:32 pm)
rachelmanija Apr. 22nd, 2020 12:32 pm)If anyone's wondering why the hell I'm reading about historical pandemics, apart from curiosity, the answer is this: they are proof that this too shall pass.
This book could not be more different from Barry's. Reading them concurrently was a good choice. Kolata's focus is twofold: why the 1918 flu pandemic was so much less written about than pretty much every other pandemic before and since, and the scientific mystery of what it was and how both historical and modern researchers tried to unravel that.
So far, at least, Barry had not touched on the first subject at all and is interested in modern research only insofar as it illuminates what was done by the Great White Men during the pandemic. Conversely, Kolata only mentions the greatness of historical white men to place them in context, noting that Welch was very well-regarded at the time to explain why he was dispatched as an old man to investigate the flu outbreak and why the fact that it alarmed even him was notable.
Kolata starts with her history as a student of microbiology to note that the influenza pandemic was barely touched upon compared to other pandemics she studied, and that she got curious as to why such a huge event seemed comparatively lost to history. Then she plunges straight in to an incredibly whirlwind account of it, which conveys its impact without really explaining the how and why. (Notable to me: Tucson, AZ mandated the wearing of masks by everyone.)
Chapter two is not actually a history of all disease THANK GOD, but a brief history of the chronicling of historical plagues, to point out that there was a noticeable lack of that for the 1918 epidemic. She goes into some detail about how little the 1918 epidemic was chronicled at the time and afterward in relation to its immense impact - the doctors who were central in dealing with it barely mention it in their memoirs, a 500-page of William Welch gives it two paragraphs, etc. She surmises that the reason for this is that it was overshadowed by/subsumed into the trauma of WWI, did not leave a large number of disabled survivors, and vanished after running its course, making it both inviting and easy to not dwell on.
Kolata leaves me wanting historical detail and context, which Barry provides. Barry leaves me wanting modern context and perspective, which Kolata provides.
Flu: The Story of the Great Influenza Pandemic of 1918 and the Search for the Virus That Caused It
This book could not be more different from Barry's. Reading them concurrently was a good choice. Kolata's focus is twofold: why the 1918 flu pandemic was so much less written about than pretty much every other pandemic before and since, and the scientific mystery of what it was and how both historical and modern researchers tried to unravel that.
So far, at least, Barry had not touched on the first subject at all and is interested in modern research only insofar as it illuminates what was done by the Great White Men during the pandemic. Conversely, Kolata only mentions the greatness of historical white men to place them in context, noting that Welch was very well-regarded at the time to explain why he was dispatched as an old man to investigate the flu outbreak and why the fact that it alarmed even him was notable.
Kolata starts with her history as a student of microbiology to note that the influenza pandemic was barely touched upon compared to other pandemics she studied, and that she got curious as to why such a huge event seemed comparatively lost to history. Then she plunges straight in to an incredibly whirlwind account of it, which conveys its impact without really explaining the how and why. (Notable to me: Tucson, AZ mandated the wearing of masks by everyone.)
Chapter two is not actually a history of all disease THANK GOD, but a brief history of the chronicling of historical plagues, to point out that there was a noticeable lack of that for the 1918 epidemic. She goes into some detail about how little the 1918 epidemic was chronicled at the time and afterward in relation to its immense impact - the doctors who were central in dealing with it barely mention it in their memoirs, a 500-page of William Welch gives it two paragraphs, etc. She surmises that the reason for this is that it was overshadowed by/subsumed into the trauma of WWI, did not leave a large number of disabled survivors, and vanished after running its course, making it both inviting and easy to not dwell on.
Kolata leaves me wanting historical detail and context, which Barry provides. Barry leaves me wanting modern context and perspective, which Kolata provides.
Flu: The Story of the Great Influenza Pandemic of 1918 and the Search for the Virus That Caused It
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