The Mosquito
A Human History of Our Deadliest Predator
(Sprache: Englisch)
**The instant New York Times bestseller**
*An international bestseller*
"Hugely impressive, a major work."-NPR
A pioneering and groundbreaking work of narrative nonfiction that offers a dramatic new perspective on the history of humankind, showing...
*An international bestseller*
"Hugely impressive, a major work."-NPR
A pioneering and groundbreaking work of narrative nonfiction that offers a dramatic new perspective on the history of humankind, showing...
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**The instant New York Times bestseller***An international bestseller*
"Hugely impressive, a major work."-NPR
A pioneering and groundbreaking work of narrative nonfiction that offers a dramatic new perspective on the history of humankind, showing how through millennia, the mosquito has been the single most powerful force in determining humanity's fate.
Why was gin and tonic the cocktail of choice for British colonists in India and Africa? What does Starbucks have to thank for its global domination? What has protected the lives of popes for millennia? Why did Scotland surrender its sovereignty to England? What was George Washington's secret weapon during the American Revolution?
The answer to all these questions, and many more, is the mosquito.
Across our planet since the dawn of humankind, this nefarious pest, roughly the size and weight of a grape seed, has been at the frontlines of history as the grim reaper, the harvester of human populations, and the ultimate agent of historical change. As the mosquito transformed the landscapes of civilization, humans were unwittingly required to respond to its piercing impact and universal projection of power.
The mosquito has determined the fates of empires and nations, razed and crippled economies, and decided the outcome of pivotal wars, killing nearly half of humanity along the way. She (only females bite) has dispatched an estimated 52 billion people from a total of 108 billion throughout our relatively brief existence. As the greatest purveyor of extermination we have ever known, she has played a greater role in shaping our human story than any other living thing with which we share our global village.
Imagine for a moment a world without deadly mosquitoes, or any mosquitoes, for that matter? Our history and the world we know, or think we know, would be completely unrecognizable.
Driven by surprising insights and fast-paced storytelling, The Mosquito is the extraordinary untold story
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of the mosquito's reign through human history and her indelible impact on our modern world order.
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CHAPTER 1Toxic Twins:
The Mosquito and Her Diseases
It has been one of the most universally recognizable and aggravating sounds on earth for 190 million years the humming buzz of a mosquito. After a long day of hiking while camping with your family or friends, you quickly shower, settle into your lawn chair, crack an ice-cold beer, and exhale a deep, contented sigh. Before you can enjoy your first satisfying swig, however, you hear that all-too-familiar sound signaling the ambitious approach of your soon-to-be tormentors.
It is nearing dusk, her favorite time to feed. Although you heard her droning arrival, she gently lands on your ankle without detection, as she usually bites close to the ground. It s always a female, by the way. She conducts a tender, probing, ten-second reconnaissance, looking for a prime blood vessel. With her backside in the air, she steadies her cross-hairs and zeros in with six sophisticated needles. She inserts two serrated mandible cutting blades (much like an electric carving knife with two blades shifting back and forth), and saws into your skin, while two other retractors open a passage for the proboscis, a hypodermic syringe that emerges from its protective sheath. With this straw she starts to suck 3 5 milligrams of your blood, immediately excreting its water, while condensing its 20% protein content. All the while, a sixth needle is pumping in saliva that contains an anticoagulant preventing your blood from clotting at the puncture site. This shortens her feeding time, lessening the likelihood that you feel her penetration and splat her across your ankle. The anticoagulant causes an allergic reaction, leaving an itchy bump as her parting gift. The mosquito bite is an intricate and innovative feeding ritual required for reproduction. She needs your blood to grow and mature her eggs.
Please don t feel singled out, special, or view yourself as a chosen one. She bites everyone. This is just the inherent nature
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of the beast. There is absolutely no truth to the persistent myths that mosquitoes fancy females over males, that they prefer blondes and redheads over those with darker hair, or that the darker or more leathery your skin, the safer you are from her bite. It is true, however, that she does play favorites and feasts on some more than others.
Blood type O seems to be the vintage of choice over types A and B or their blend. People with blood type O get bitten twice as often as those with type A, with type B falling somewhere in between. Disney/ Pixar must have done their homework when portraying a tipsy mosquito ordering a Bloody Mary, O-Positive in the 1998 movie A Bug s Life. Those who have higher natural levels of certain chemicals in their skin, particularly lactic acid, also seem to be more attractive. From these elements she can analyze which blood type you are. These are the same chemicals that determine an individual s level of skin bacteria and unique body odor. While you may offend others and perhaps yourself, in this case being pungently rancid is a good thing, for it increases bacterial levels on the skin, which makes you less alluring to mosquitoes. Cleanliness is not next to godliness, except for stinky feet, which emit a bacterium (the same one that ripens and rinds certain cheeses) that is a mosquito aphrodisiac. Mosquitoes are also enticed by deodorants, perfumes, soap, and other applied fragrances.
While this may seem unfair to many of you, and the reason remains a mystery, she also has an affinity for beer drinkers. Wearing bright colors is also not a wise choice, since she hunts by both sight and smell the latter depending chiefly on the amount of carbon dioxide exhaled by the potential target. So all your thrashing and huffing and puffing only magnetizes mosquitoes and puts you at greater risk. She can smell carbon dioxide from over 200 feet away. Wh
Blood type O seems to be the vintage of choice over types A and B or their blend. People with blood type O get bitten twice as often as those with type A, with type B falling somewhere in between. Disney/ Pixar must have done their homework when portraying a tipsy mosquito ordering a Bloody Mary, O-Positive in the 1998 movie A Bug s Life. Those who have higher natural levels of certain chemicals in their skin, particularly lactic acid, also seem to be more attractive. From these elements she can analyze which blood type you are. These are the same chemicals that determine an individual s level of skin bacteria and unique body odor. While you may offend others and perhaps yourself, in this case being pungently rancid is a good thing, for it increases bacterial levels on the skin, which makes you less alluring to mosquitoes. Cleanliness is not next to godliness, except for stinky feet, which emit a bacterium (the same one that ripens and rinds certain cheeses) that is a mosquito aphrodisiac. Mosquitoes are also enticed by deodorants, perfumes, soap, and other applied fragrances.
While this may seem unfair to many of you, and the reason remains a mystery, she also has an affinity for beer drinkers. Wearing bright colors is also not a wise choice, since she hunts by both sight and smell the latter depending chiefly on the amount of carbon dioxide exhaled by the potential target. So all your thrashing and huffing and puffing only magnetizes mosquitoes and puts you at greater risk. She can smell carbon dioxide from over 200 feet away. Wh
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Autoren-Porträt von Timothy C. Winegard
Timothy C. Winegard
Bibliographische Angaben
- Autor: Timothy C. Winegard
- 2020, 496 Seiten, mit Schwarz-Weiß-Abbildungen, Maße: 13,9 x 20,8 cm, Kartoniert (TB), Englisch
- Verlag: Dutton
- ISBN-10: 1524743429
- ISBN-13: 9781524743420
- Erscheinungsdatum: 02.07.2020
Sprache:
Englisch
Pressezitat
**The International Bestseller**Praise for The Mosquito
Hugely impressive, a major work. NPR
The Mosquito is an extremely well-researched work of narrative nonfiction... Timothy C. Winegard's The Mosquito is as wildly entertaining as any epic narrative out there. It's also all true Winegard masterfully weaves historical facts and science to offer a shocking, informative narrative that shows how who we are today is directly linked to the mosquito. NPR.org
Winegard s reminder of their enormous potential for destruction is a timely one for all of us we modern folk are also guilty of believing that our hopes and our technology will somehow make us exempt from the workings of the natural world. The entire time that humanity has been in existence, the mosquito has been proof that we are not. The New Yorker
It s not guns, germs and steel here it s all germs. The Mosquito is one of those (compound-) eye-opening books that permanently shift your worldview Those who crave a deep dive into one world-shaking bug should grab The Mosquito. Sam Kean for the New York Times Book Review
It s an ambitious book that aims to deliver a tour of Western military history from antiquity to the jungles of Vietnam and an account of how one tiny arthropod repeatedly molded that history, thwarting generals, sickening peasants and popes, and killing billions of people. Timothy C. Winegard has pulled off this feat in his enthusiastic if imperfect The Mosquito: A Human History of Our Deadliest Predator... Mr. Winegard presents a convincing argument for that assertion in 470 pages that will be illuminating for the reader coming fresh to mosquito-borne diseases. Wall Street Journal
Thrilling a lively history of mosquitoes. Mr. Winegard convincingly argues that the insect has shaped human life as well as delivering death Mr. Winegard is an engaging guide, especially when he combines analysis with
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anecdote. The Economist
Readers of non-fiction, history and science will enjoy Winegard's unique take on the ever-present pest. If you can't get away from mosquitoes in your backyard, then immerse yourself in this book and learn a new perspective on this seemingly insignificant part of summer. Associated Press
Written as a big-picture, impersonal history think Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs, and Steel...The Mosquito serves up an eye-opening, deeply alarming, and absolutely engrossing view of humanity s most tenacious foe. Foreign Policy
Fascinating... an entertainingly educational new opus... Winegard s study marshals scientific facts and millennia of historical background about the droning pest we all encounter and which has killed nearly half of all human beings who ve ever lived, profoundly altering our world along its bloodsucking way. USA Today
Best books of the year so far: USA TODAY's best-reviewed titles of 2019. USA Today
"Magisterial" Soutik Biswas, the India Correspondent and Features & Analysis Editor for BBC News
[The Mosquito] takes readers on a riveting adventure, documenting the mosquito s outsized role in conflict since antiquity Winegard s earnest voice on this brings the seriousness of research and action on the mosquito up to the needed decibel. Nature
A fascinating history of everyone s least favorite insect. Lit Hub
In what might be the bones of a good future horror movie, Timothy C. Winegard s The Mosquito goes deep into the history of that one particular bug... [The Mosquito] is a reminder that the human and insect worlds are interconnected and fragile that we re not the most important thing in the natural world. Outside.com
The deeply researched book is packed with surprising historical facts and beautiful scientific writing." Outside.com
"Book of the Week" The Week
With the deeply researched Mosquito...he uses the bellicose insect to tie together a fascinating, sprawling history from dinosaurs to the banned insecticide DDT. Literary Review of Canada
Convincingly portrays the ignoble mosquito as a malignant force more influential in human affairs than the legendary Illuminati. Natural History Magazine
Certainly, history buffs and science lovers will enjoy this book but it s also a heavier-duty, gee-whiz tale that s totally absorbing. If you re ready to learn, look for The Mosquito. You know the drill. The Quad-City Times
Timothy Winegard s entertaining new book, The Mosquito, chronicles the impact of mosquito-borne disease, principally malaria, throughout history. Readers of this book will no doubt enjoy Winegard s rapid journey through many of humanity s major population movements, campaigns, and wars. Science Magazine
An epic analysis of the fiendish female insects. The Boulder Lifestyle Magazine
A gripping book. The Los Angeles Times
Fascinating...The Mosquito traces the defeat of armies, birth of nations, and shaping of culture all at the hand or wings of the mosquito. Garden&Gun
Heavily detailed (and witty). The Denver Post
"One of Fall 2019's Biggest Books...Winegard is a great storyteller who makes the icky fascinating." The Philadelphia Inquirer
"The amount of knowledge that Winegard has provided is more than enough to be taken seriously, and he provides a detailed history of the world that was probably not focused on in history class." San Francisco Book Review (five-star review)
"A combination of well-researched incredible scientific facts and enthusiastic, imaginative narrative, The Mosquito is a fascinating and important book, both educational and entertaining." Ft. Myers Magazine
Readers of non-fiction, history and science will enjoy Winegard's unique take on the ever-present pest. If you can't get away from mosquitoes in your backyard, then immerse yourself in this book and learn a new perspective on this seemingly insignificant part of summer. Associated Press
Written as a big-picture, impersonal history think Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs, and Steel...The Mosquito serves up an eye-opening, deeply alarming, and absolutely engrossing view of humanity s most tenacious foe. Foreign Policy
Fascinating... an entertainingly educational new opus... Winegard s study marshals scientific facts and millennia of historical background about the droning pest we all encounter and which has killed nearly half of all human beings who ve ever lived, profoundly altering our world along its bloodsucking way. USA Today
Best books of the year so far: USA TODAY's best-reviewed titles of 2019. USA Today
"Magisterial" Soutik Biswas, the India Correspondent and Features & Analysis Editor for BBC News
[The Mosquito] takes readers on a riveting adventure, documenting the mosquito s outsized role in conflict since antiquity Winegard s earnest voice on this brings the seriousness of research and action on the mosquito up to the needed decibel. Nature
A fascinating history of everyone s least favorite insect. Lit Hub
In what might be the bones of a good future horror movie, Timothy C. Winegard s The Mosquito goes deep into the history of that one particular bug... [The Mosquito] is a reminder that the human and insect worlds are interconnected and fragile that we re not the most important thing in the natural world. Outside.com
The deeply researched book is packed with surprising historical facts and beautiful scientific writing." Outside.com
"Book of the Week" The Week
With the deeply researched Mosquito...he uses the bellicose insect to tie together a fascinating, sprawling history from dinosaurs to the banned insecticide DDT. Literary Review of Canada
Convincingly portrays the ignoble mosquito as a malignant force more influential in human affairs than the legendary Illuminati. Natural History Magazine
Certainly, history buffs and science lovers will enjoy this book but it s also a heavier-duty, gee-whiz tale that s totally absorbing. If you re ready to learn, look for The Mosquito. You know the drill. The Quad-City Times
Timothy Winegard s entertaining new book, The Mosquito, chronicles the impact of mosquito-borne disease, principally malaria, throughout history. Readers of this book will no doubt enjoy Winegard s rapid journey through many of humanity s major population movements, campaigns, and wars. Science Magazine
An epic analysis of the fiendish female insects. The Boulder Lifestyle Magazine
A gripping book. The Los Angeles Times
Fascinating...The Mosquito traces the defeat of armies, birth of nations, and shaping of culture all at the hand or wings of the mosquito. Garden&Gun
Heavily detailed (and witty). The Denver Post
"One of Fall 2019's Biggest Books...Winegard is a great storyteller who makes the icky fascinating." The Philadelphia Inquirer
"The amount of knowledge that Winegard has provided is more than enough to be taken seriously, and he provides a detailed history of the world that was probably not focused on in history class." San Francisco Book Review (five-star review)
"A combination of well-researched incredible scientific facts and enthusiastic, imaginative narrative, The Mosquito is a fascinating and important book, both educational and entertaining." Ft. Myers Magazine
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