Tag: Plague of Justinian
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Review: The History of the World in 100 Pandemics, Plagues and Epidemics
Arpan BanerjeeSolihull, United Kingdom The publication of this book could not have been better timed. The book sets out to show how pandemics, epidemics, and infectious diseases have shaped human history over the last 5,000 years. Its contents help us place the current COVID-19 epidemic in its rightful historical context. Famine, war, and pestilence have…
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Plague epidemics and the evolution of language in England
Andrew P. K. WodrichWashington, DC, United States Epidemics have had a profound impact on culture across time. The Antonine Plague, a suspected outbreak of smallpox, wreaked havoc on the Roman Empire of the second century. Amongst its many cultural sequelae, this plague caused a renewed sense of spiritualism and religiosity, which may have created an…
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Bugs and people: When epidemics change history
Salvatore MangionePhiladelphia, Pennsylvania, United States In a November 15, 2016 lecture at Oxford University Union, famed British astrophysicist Stephen Hawking predicted that mankind will not last more than a thousand years, and that the only way it can escape extinction is by finding another planet. In May 2017 he moved up the deadline to a…