Only one hundred years ago, in even the worldās wealthiest nations, children died in great numbersāof diarrhea, diphtheria, and measles, of scarlet fever and tuberculosis. Throughout history, culture has been shaped by these deaths; diaries and letters recorded them, and writers such as Louisa May Alcott, W. E. B. Du Bois, and Eugene OāNeill wrote about and mourned them. Not even the powerful and the wealthy could escape: of Abraham and Mary Lincolnās four children, only one survived to adulthood, and the first billionaire in history, John D. Rockefeller, lost his beloved grandson to scarlet fever. For children of the poor, immigrants, enslaved people and their descendants, the chances of dying were far worse.
The steady beating back of infant and child mortality is one of our greatest human achievements. Interweaving her own experiences as a medical student and doctor, Perri Klass pays tribute to groundbreaking women doctors like Rebecca Lee Crumpler, Mary Putnam Jacobi, and Josephine Baker, and to the nurses, public health advocates, and scientists who brought new approaches and scientific ideas about sanitation and vaccination to families. These scientists, healers, reformers, and parents rewrote the human experience so thatāfor the first time in human memoryāearly death is now the exception rather than the rule, bringing about a fundamental transformation in society, culture, and family life.
Previously published in hardcover as A Good Time to Be Born.
This book title, The Best Medicine (How Science and Public Health Gave Children a Future) - 9780393882384, ISBN: 9780393882384, by Perri Klass, published by W. W. Norton & Company (April 19, 2022) is available in paperback. Our minimum order quantity is 25 copies. All standard bulk book orders ship FREE in the continental USA and delivered in 4-10 business days.
Unlike Amazon and other retailers who may also offer The Best Medicine (How Science and Public Health Gave Children a Future) - 9780393882384 books on their website, we specialize in large quantities and provide personal service, from trusted, experienced, friendly people in Portland, Oregon. We offer a Price Match Guarantee, and QuickQuote form, to make purchasing quick and easy.
Prefer to work with a human being when you order The Best Medicine (How Science and Public Health Gave Children a Future) - 9780393882384 books in bulk? Our Book Specialists are standing by Monday-Friday 8-5 PST, ready to help!