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15+ Works 2,211 Membros 31 Críticas 2 Favorited

About the Author

Alfred Worcester Crosby Jr. was born in Boston, Massachusetts on January 15, 1931. He received a bachelor's degree in history from Harvard University in 1952. He served as a sergeant in the Army in the Panama Canal Zone. After his service, he received a doctorate in history from Boston University. mostrar mais He taught at Washington State University for 11 years and at the University of Texas in Austin for 22 years. He retired in 1999 as professor emeritus of geography, history, and American studies. He was considered the father of environmental history. He incorporated studies of biology, ecology, geography, and other sciences in his efforts to chronicle and understand human events. He wrote numerous books including The Columbian Exchange: Biological and Cultural Consequences of 1492; Ecological Imperialism: The Biological Expansion of Europe, 900-1900; Germs, Seeds and Animals: Studies in Ecological History; The Measure of Reality: Quantification and Western Society, 1250-1600; and Children of the Sun: A History of Humanity's Unappeasable Appetite for Energy. He died from complications of Parkinson's disease on March 14, 2018 at the age of 87. (Bowker Author Biography) mostrar menos

Obras por Alfred W. Crosby

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Etiquetado

Conhecimento Comum

Nome legal
Crosby, Alfred Worcester
Data de nascimento
1931-01-15
Data de falecimento
2018-03-14
Sexo
male
Nacionalidade
USA
Local de nascimento
Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Local de falecimento
Nantucket, Massachusetts, USA
Locais de residência
Austin, Texas, USA
Educação
Harvard University (BA - History)
Boston University (PhD - History)
Ocupações
professor emeritus (History, Geography and American Studies)
historian
soldier
Organizações
University of Texas at Austin
Albion College
Ohio State University
Washington State University
San Fernando Valley State College
United States Army (1952-1955)

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Alfred Worcester Crosby (15 January 1931-14 March 2018)

Alfred W. Crosby was born in Boston in 1931 where he still lives with his wife Barbara and daughter Carolyn Jane. He graduated from Harvard College in 1952 and served in the United States Army, stationed in Panama (1952-1955). After his army service he earned a Master in the Art of Teaching (M.A.T.) from the Harvard School of Education and a Doctor of Philosophy in history from Boston University in 1961. His dissertation was published as his first book, "America, Russia, Hemp, and Napoleon: a study of trade between the United States and Russia, 1783-1814" from the time of the American Revolution through the War of 1812. During his academic career he taught at Albion College, the Ohio State University, Washington State University, and finally the University of Texas at Austin. He retired from the University of Texas in 1999 as Professor Emeritus of Geography, History, and American Studies.

His involvement in the Civil Rights movement, teaching Black Studies, helping to build a medical center for the United Farm Workers’ Union, and taking a leadership role in anti-Vietnam War demonstrations set him off in intellectually unorthodox directions. He became particularly interested in the histories of people who were victimized, economically exploited, or enslaved in the advance of European imperialism and capitalism, and thereby in the influence in that advance of nonpolitical, nonreligious, and largely ignored factors—especially infectious disease.

All this did not make of him a Marxist radical, because—as he put it—he was not that much of an optimist. It did, however, inspire interest in demography and epidemiology, which led him to write several books—"The Columbian Exchange: Biological and Cultural Consequences of 1492" (1972); "America’s Forgotten Pandemic (originally Epidemic and Peace 1918)" (1976); and "Ecological Imperialism: The Biological Expansion of Europe, 900-1900" (1986). His fascination with several subdivisions of intellectual and technological history produced "The Measure of Reality: Quantification and Western Society, 1250-1600" (1997); "Throwing Fire: Projectile Technology Through History" (2002); and "Children of the Sun: A History of Humanity’s Unappeasable Appetite for Energy" (2006).

His work as a historian, he said, turned him from facing the past to facing the future.

Membros

Críticas

Well researched account of the 1918 influenza pandemic. This is the best book that I've read on this topic so far.
½
 
Assinalado
CatsandCherryPie | 7 outras críticas | Oct 16, 2023 |
本書年代相當久遠,1972年出版至今已經快50年了。從30週年紀念版的作者序來看,原來當時還沒確認害死恐龍的兇手啊

本書的主題有:
 歐洲人帶到美洲的細菌對原住民的殺傷力
 帶到美洲的動植物(主要是動物)對生態的影響
 梅毒的起源(我猜修訂版的內容是多加了梅毒不是哥倫布帶回來的說法)
 帶到舊世界的動植物(主要是農作物)一路傳到日本的過程

也由於出版以久,很多內容已經變人別人立論的立足點了
讀過《槍炮、病菌與鋼鐵:人類社會的命運》的人,可能不太需要回頭看這本吧

--
作者在說明細菌被帶到美洲之前,先提到整個美洲的原住民的基因一致性很高
但沒將這二件事連結在一起
不知是作者認為講這樣大家就懂了,還是作者沒認為有關聯

--
本書翻的蠻順的,但錯字……
A行血型、B行、O行
波里尼西亞
莫三鼻克
孟拉加
波利維亞
卡洛里執→卡路里值
厄百多爾→厄瓜多(我猜的啦,畢竟句子前後都是南美國名)
佛得角群島→維德角群島
貝寧→貝南
亞森松 Asunción→亞松森
愛樂坡 Aleppo→阿勒坡(頗)

這已經是讀完,才決定要整理出的部分
大多數是錯在國名,現存國名的譯名應該是沒啥爭議吧
書本最後的中英對照表還另有缺字的問題
這不是已經是貓頭鷹的第三版了嗎
… (mais)
½
 
Assinalado
HsuBattery | 6 outras críticas | Sep 3, 2023 |
I read this book specifically because of my PhD, as I'm looking at contexts in San Francisco around this time. There is a whole chapter on the situation in San Francisco which is great. I was also excited about the focus on the pandemic as "forgotten" which ties in to some of what I'm writing about. However, Crosby never really puts forward an argument as to why the pandemic was forgotten. There is a lot of evidence and some speculation that adds up to nothing much but evidence and speculation, and which is also seemingly tacked onto the end instead of weaved throughout the book. From the title and the opening I was hoping for more focus on the element of forgotten trauma on the American public body. Still, this is the revised edition of one of the first histories of a forgotten topic, and often an interesting read.… (mais)
 
Assinalado
J.Flux | 7 outras críticas | Aug 13, 2022 |
Absolutely vital reading for the current COVID-19 pandemic. The number of parallels are very disturbing.
½
 
Assinalado
greglief | 7 outras críticas | Dec 24, 2020 |

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Estatísticas

Obras
15
Also by
1
Membros
2,211
Popularidade
#11,596
Avaliação
3.9
Críticas
31
ISBN
71
Línguas
12
Marcado como favorito
2

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