Record Display for the EPA National Library Catalog
RECORD NUMBER: 1678 OF 1952Main Title | The mosquito : a human history of our deadliest predator / | |||||||||||
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Author | Winegard, Timothy C. | |||||||||||
Publisher | Dutton, An imprint of Penguin Random House LLC, | |||||||||||
Year Published | 2019 | |||||||||||
OCLC Number | 1083228616 | |||||||||||
ISBN | 9781524743413; 1524743410 | |||||||||||
Subjects | Mosquitoes--Ecology--History ; Mosquitoes as carriers of disease ; Human ecology ; Diseases and history | |||||||||||
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Collation | x, 486 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm | |||||||||||
Notes | Includes bibliographical references (pages 449-461) and index. |
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Contents Notes | Why was gin and tonic the cocktail of choice for British colonists in India and Africa? What does Starbucks have to thank for its global domination? What has protected the lives of popes for millennia? Why did Scotland surrender its sovereignty to England? What was George Washington's secret weapon during the American Revolution? The answer to all these questions, and many more, is the mosquito. Across our planet since the dawn of humankind, this nefarious pest, roughly the size and weight of a grape seed, has been at the frontlines of history as the grim reaper, the harvester of human populations, and the ultimate agent of historical change. As the mosquito transformed the landscapes of civilization, humans were unwittingly required to respond to its piercing impact and universal projection of power. The mosquito has determined the fates of empires and nations, razed and crippled economies, and decided the outcome of pivotal wars, killing nearly half of humanity along the way. She (only females bite) has dispatched an estimated 52 billion people from a total of 108 billion throughout our relatively brief existence. As the greatest purveyor of extermination we have ever known, she has played a greater role in shaping our human story than any other living thing with which we share our global village. |