Continual Raving C
Regular price
$55.35 USD
Regular price
$58.27 USD
Sale price
$55.35 USD
Unit price
per
You save $2.92 USD (5%)
In stock — Ships within 1–2 business days
Format
Print Book
Currently viewing
Hardcover
$55.35 USD
$58.27 USD
Secure CheckoutYour data is protected
Fast U.S. ShippingShips within 1–2 business days
Authentic Titles100% Genuine Books
Book Overview Not all scientific discoveries are genius. Continual Raving tells the combined stories of how scientists across the 19th and 20th centuri...
Not all scientific discoveries are genius. Continual Raving tells the combined stories of how scientists across the 19th and 20th centuries defeated meningitis -- not through flawless scientific research, but often through a series of serendipitous events, misplaced assumptions, and flawed conclusions. The result is a story of not just a vanquished disease, but how scientific accomplishment sometimes occurs where it's least expected.
Although symptoms of meningitis were recorded as early as Hippocrates and the ancient Greeks, our understanding of the disease's origins and mechanisms remained obscure for most of human history. That changed in 1892, when German physician Richard Pfeiffer observed and isolated bacteria ultimately shown to cause meningitis in children -- and concluded that those bacteria cause influenza. Haemophilus influenzae, as thee meningitis-causing bacteria have been erroneously named ever since, continued their strange journey to discovery in the decades that followed.
Continual Raving traces the disease's strange encounters with science, including:
- Heinrich Quincke, the German internist who first used a needle to draw spinal fluid from between a patient's back bones
- Simon Flexner's management of American meningitis epidemics using immune serum from a horse
- American bacteriologist Margaret Pittman's discovery (during the Great Depression, no less) of a sugar overcoat that protects the bacteria from white blood cells
- Pediatrician Ashley Weech, who gave the first antibiotic used in America (based on instructions written in German) to a young patient sick with meningitis
- Microbiologist Hattie Alexander, who learned why these antibiotics sometimes fail in such patients
- Four scientists, in two teams, as they vied to be the first to create the right vaccine to prevent meningitis in infants
In each of these deeply human stories, variables of chance, circumstance, and incorrect assumptions intervene to shape not just the arc of the scientists' lives, but the trajectory of how humans have come to understand one of our most pernicious diseases. Continual Raving is a mosaic tale of how science conquered meningitis -- and a larger story of the sometimes winding road to discovery.
Book Details Format: Hardcover | Pages: 251 | Language: English | Publisher: OXFORD UNIV PR | ISBN: 0190677317
FormatHardcover
Pages251
LanguageEnglish
ISBN0190677317
EAN9780190677312
PublisherOXFORD UNIV PR
Publication Date1970-01-01
Edition1
AccessoriesNo Accessory
ConditionNew
Product TypeHARD COVER BOOKS
Weight1.15 Pounds
Length9.3 Inches
Width6.4 Inches
Height1.0 Inches
Shipping & Returns Fast, reliable shipping and easy returns on eligible items.
Most orders ship within 1–2 business days with fast, reliable U.S. delivery.
Eligible items can be returned within 30 days in line with our store return policy.
Why shop with AlbakiReads
Fresh Inventory from Major Publishers
Sourced through trusted book distributors, with fresh titles added regularly.
Secure Checkout
Your payment information is encrypted and protected every step of the way.
Fast U.S. Shipping
Most orders ship within 1–2 business days.
Books for Every Kind of Reader
From page-turners to timeless classics—find your next favorite read.
