A review by leahsbooks
Patient Zero: A Curious History of the World's Worst Diseases by Nate Pedersen, Lydia Kang
5.0
Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book. I am offering my honest opinion voluntarily.
This was a fascinating look into the history of disease and how it is managed, as well as how these topics are handled today. While it could have been easy for this to get boring and dry, it never did.
There was a lot of information presented, ranging from ancient times to present day, and all of it was presented logically and in terms that are easily understandable to the layperson. I was so incredibly intrigued to learn about the history and patient zero analysis of various diseases, ranging from Hansen's disease (leprosy) to typhoid fever to typhus to smallpox to the Plague to Ebola to rabies and even COVID-19. I also enjoyed learning how people had tried to treat these illnesses throughout history, as well as how the medical field has eventually learned to control, manage, and in some fortunate cases, even wipe out a few of these diseases.
There were many cases where historical medical knowledge and even the spread of diseases were sensitive topics, such as the spread of disease into the New World by Columbus and his men. I think the authors did a great job of portraying the situations in a sensitive manner, using facts that were as historically accurate as possible.
The material was clearly well-researched, and presented in a linear and easy-to-understand manner. It touches on diseases from all over the world, where they come from, and how they've been treated, both ineffective and effective means. There's a lot of cool little tidbits relevant to the material thrown in as well, including famous people afflicted by the disease, current information or presentations, and random historical facts. Overall, it was a really cool and interesting book, and it was surprisingly interesting.
This was a fascinating look into the history of disease and how it is managed, as well as how these topics are handled today. While it could have been easy for this to get boring and dry, it never did.
There was a lot of information presented, ranging from ancient times to present day, and all of it was presented logically and in terms that are easily understandable to the layperson. I was so incredibly intrigued to learn about the history and patient zero analysis of various diseases, ranging from Hansen's disease (leprosy) to typhoid fever to typhus to smallpox to the Plague to Ebola to rabies and even COVID-19. I also enjoyed learning how people had tried to treat these illnesses throughout history, as well as how the medical field has eventually learned to control, manage, and in some fortunate cases, even wipe out a few of these diseases.
There were many cases where historical medical knowledge and even the spread of diseases were sensitive topics, such as the spread of disease into the New World by Columbus and his men. I think the authors did a great job of portraying the situations in a sensitive manner, using facts that were as historically accurate as possible.
The material was clearly well-researched, and presented in a linear and easy-to-understand manner. It touches on diseases from all over the world, where they come from, and how they've been treated, both ineffective and effective means. There's a lot of cool little tidbits relevant to the material thrown in as well, including famous people afflicted by the disease, current information or presentations, and random historical facts. Overall, it was a really cool and interesting book, and it was surprisingly interesting.