Glean how evolving germs could reshape infectious disease across generations, not in a single lifetime.
This nonfiction work argues that the story of disease may unfold through long-term changes in microbes. It traces a Darwinian view applied to bacteria, exploring how environment and time can steer the characters of infection from one disease to another, across many generations.
- Learn how scientists frame the germ theory, its supporting ideas, and the debates that surround it.
- See examples and types of anomalous cases that challenge simple explanations of disease origins.
- Discover how experiments and observations from the era contribute to discussions about evolution, environment, and infection.
- Understand how concepts like site, transmission, and the “nondescript” disease concept fit into a broader view of pathology.
Ideal for readers interested in the history of medicine, microbiology, and the early ideas that shaped modern thinking about germs and disease.