So Very Small: How Humans Discovered The Microcosmos

About

In 1665, an infectious disease swept through London and claimed the lives of tens of thousands of people. It would take another two hundred years for the cause of the Great Plague of London to be confirmed: a powerful bacterium called Yersinia pestis. In those centuries, our understanding of diseases was transformed.
The turning point came in the 19th century with the development of germ theory and scientists made major breakthroughs in our ongoing struggle against infectious disease. Perhaps the greatest of these achievements is the discovery of antibiotic treatment, which has been the salvation of much of humanity in recent centuries.

In a story that spans centuries and continents, Thomas Levenson reveals how human hubris led us to overestimate our own ability and underestimate the threat that microorganisms truly pose. Join us on a journey through some of the most significant epidemics and pandemics in history, including the recurrent outbreaks of cholera in Europe and Asia, and the 1721 Boston smallpox epidemic.

Thomas Levenson is a professor of science writing at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He is also a film-maker, with many science documentary films to his credit and has received the National Academies Prize for Science Communication and a Peabody Award. His previous books include ‘Money for Nothing’, ‘Newton and The Counterfeiter’ and ‘Einstein in Berlin’.