The White Death (Magill’s Literary Annual 1991-2005)
At a glance:
- Author: Thomas Dormandy
- First Published: 2000
- Type of Work: History of science and medicine
- Time of Work: Primarily 1700-2000
- Setting: Western Europe and the United States
- Principal Characters: Albert Calmette, Robert Koch, René Laënnec, Clemens von Pirquet, Edward Livingston Trudeau, Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen, Selman Abraham Waksman
- Genres: Nonfiction, History
- Subjects: United States or Americans, Twentieth century, Nineteenth century, Europe or Europeans, Eighteenth century, Medicine, Diseases, Tuberculosis
- Locales: Europe, United States
Thomas Dormandy is an established author in the field of medical history. His writing style is a combination of scholarly research, human interest anecdotes, and occasional wry comments about the medical profession. “White death” was a term given to tuberculosis because patients commonly looked pale and anemic as they lay in bed. Frequently they suffered for several years with severe coughing, loss of weight, low energy, and spitting up of blood from the lungs. By contrast, “Black Death” referred to the plague that devastated Europe in the 1300’s, one of its symptoms being...
[The entire page is 1921 words long]
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