The story of medical bacteriology and its attempt to »eradicate« all of mankind`s »invisible enemies«: the rise and fall of a leading science in the modern age. When the WHO announced the »eradication of smallpox« in 1980, the vision...
moreThe story of medical bacteriology and its attempt to »eradicate« all of mankind`s »invisible enemies«: the rise and fall of a leading science in the modern age.
When the WHO announced the »eradication of smallpox« in 1980, the vision of a world free of infectious diseases seemed to be within reach. For the first time, it seemed possible to »wipe out« epidemics by means of bacteriology. However, just a short time later, when new pathogens emerged and old ones resurfaced that had long since been considered defeated, it became clear that this was an illusion. Focussing on Germany between 1890 and 1933, Silvia Berger reveals that this was not the first time that the belief in the possibility of controlling infectious diseases had been shattered. After the First World War, bacteriology was already facing a serious crisis. The dream of destroying all »invisible enemies« and creating »pure« bodies and territories, rigorously pursued by military bacteriologists between 1914 and 1918, now faded into the background. In the 1920s, the scientists working in this exclusive field were forced to admit that they were no longer in a position to explain the complex interaction of micro and macro-organisms with their hypotheses. Rather than being considered a »war«, the relationship between bacteria and humans began to be expressed in terms such as »balance« or »symbiosis«, as a kind of peaceful co-existence.
In 2008, the study was awarded the Henry-E.-Sigerist Prize for young academics by the Swiss Society for the History of Medicine and Science. 2009 the book won the Förderpreis of the German Society for the History of Medicine, Natural Science and Technology.
»a highly original work, constituting an outstanding contribution to the history of preventive medicine and to German history«
Paul Weindling, Oxford
"Ohne Übertreibung darf man festhalten, dass mit Silvia Bergers Buch die Wissenschaftsgeschichte der Bakteriologie in der Zwischenkriegszeit im Wesentlichen geschrieben ist und es ganz erheblicher Anstrengungen bedürfte, an dieser Deutung vor- bei zu kommen."
Christoph Gradmann, Oslo
" [...] a highly valuable and original work. It fully deserves an English translation in order to reach a larger readership."
Jean-Paul Gaudillière, Paris
