Epidemic

This is an excellent volume in the Eyewitness Books series. With outstanding photographs and short paragraphs on a myriad of topics, Epidemic gives a great overview of this serious topic. The book consists of 29 two-page segments. Each segment or mini-chapter has one or two paragraphs on a main topic followed by many little paragraphs on related topics and ample illustrations of various sizes. I'll describe the segment on Food poisoning to illustrate the book's design. The main paragraph names and describes the bacteria responsible for most food poisoning, notes the symptoms of effects of food poisoning, and briefly relates how our immune system responds to the bacteria. At the bottom of the two pages is a large photograph showing an attack of E.coli with descriptions of the bacteria, enlarged photos of them, and photos and descriptions of damage done by bacterial toxins. There are also pictures and short paragraphs about listeria, soft cheese, salmonella and eggs, cooked and uncooked meats, and food inspection. A reader might devour every word or read selectively. I mostly read everything.

I'm a physician and I hold a Master's in Public Health. I bought this book for my kids, along with several other DK titles. This is a great overview of the subject and covers the history of epidemiology in a wonderfully straight forward and very complete manner. In fact, I keep a copy in my office to loan to my non-medical colleagues for a fast and highly readable overview of this fascinating subject! Grade School, High School, College or Post Bach, what ever your educational level, I don't think you'll be disappointed with this very neat book!

I first got into the Eyewitness series when I was in elementary school...now I'm nearly 21 and I still love these books! "Epidemic" is one of my favorites. I love the mix of both recent photography and older woodcuts/drawings used to illustrate such topics as historical diseases (such as leprosy), and more modern ones (like AIDS). I highly recommend "Epidemic" to anyone, young or old, who is interested in the symptoms and treatment of illness throughout history.