Health and the Rise of Civilization

Cohen, Mark Nathan

ISBN 10: 0300040067 / ISBN 13: 9780300040067

Published by Yale University Press, New Haven, CT, 1989

About this Item

285 pp. Tightly bound. Corners not bumped. Text is free of markings. No ownership markings. Very good dust jacket. First Edition / First Printing. 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1.

Seller Inventory # 027478

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Health and the Rise of Civilization
• Publisher: Yale University Press, New Haven, CT
• Publication Date: 1989
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0300040067
• ISBN 13: 9780300040067
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Printing: 1st Printing
• Condition: Very Good
• Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good Dust Jacket
• Seller catalogs:
  • Dover

About this title

Synopsis

In this book, the author challenges the popular assumption that "primitive" societies are poor, ill, and malnourished, and that progress through civiliztion automatically implies improved health. Cohen reviews the major prehistoric social and technological transformations that resulted in the emergence of civilization, and evaluates the impact of these transformations on health and nutrition through the ages. Using findings from epidemiology, anthropology, and archaeology, Cohen provides evidence about the actual effects of civilization on health, concluding that primitive populations, whether in prehistory or in the modern world, have surprisingly successful health records compared to many prehistoric and historic civilizations and to some populations of the modern Third World. He argues that some aspects of "progress" create as many health problems as they prevent or cure.