Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears: A West African Tale

Customer Reviews:

Lesson Learned.......2007-07-17

The story takes place in a jungle. It's about a mosquito that was annoying an iguana and how all of the animals were affected by it. Overall, I thought this was a pretty good book. The book teaches a lesson, which is don't lie because when you lie you just get in more trouble.

Onomatopoeia.......2007-05-13

I randomly selected this book at the library and was surprised to find that I could use it in my classroom! We just happened to be studying onomatopoeia at the time. Onomatopoeia is the use of words that imitates the sound it is describing (buzz, bam, pow, hiss, etc.). I had my seventh graders listen to the story as I read it aloud. They had to write each example of onomatopoeia that they heard. They loved the story, and it was a great reinforcement for what we were studying.

This is an awesome tale!.......2006-08-16

I read this book as a small child when it originally received the Caldecott medal and I have loved it ever since. It has even become a favorite of my children who love the pictures and laugh everytime the mosquito gets WHACKED at the end. This is a also a great story to use to discuss cause and effect and I have had some wonderful discussions with my students utilizing this book. I would consider this a must read for any little person and adults alike!

My favorite picture book.......2006-02-18

This was my favorite picture book as a child and now, as an adult, it still is. I think it is incredibly difficult to write a picture book, and I view it as a true craft. What makes a good picture book in my opinion? Unique artwork, an intriguing tale, and storytelling style. This book has it all. The artwork is simple, bold, and magical, the story engages you right away, and the repetitive style of the narrative is perfect for storytime. And, of course, the last page is priceless. As far as I'm concerned, this book is essential for any children's library.

Why mosquitoes buzz in peoples ears NH.......2006-02-02

I think that it is okay but it needs to be better than what it is right know because i think the people that did this book can still do better. thats all i had to say p.s. i think you did a good job.

The Biology of Mosquitoes: Volume 1: Development, Nutrition and Reproduction (Cabi Publishing)

Average customer rating:

Excellent reference book

The Biology of Mosquitoes: Volume 1: Development, Nutrition and Reproduction (Cabi Publishing)
A. N. Clements
Manufacturer: CABI
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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The Biology of Mosquitoes: Sensory, Reception, and Behaviour (Volume 2)

ASIN: 0851993745

Book Description

Volume 1: Development, Nutrition and Reproduction reviews the embryology, growth and metamorphosis of mosquitoes, the nutrition of larvae and adults, and egg production by the adults females. Physiological adaptations of larvae to their aquatic environment are also described. Volume 1 was published by Chapman and Hall in 1992.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent reference book.......2004-01-30

I recommend this book to anybody studying mosquito biology. Excellent!!!

The Biology of Mosquitoes: Sensory, Reception, and Behaviour (Volume 2)

Average customer rating:

The Biology of Mosquitoes: Sensory, Reception, and Behaviour (Volume 2)
A. N. Clements
Manufacturer: CABI
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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The Biology of Mosquitoes: Volume 1: Development, Nutrition and Reproduction (Cabi Publishing)

ASIN: 0851993133

Book Description

Notorious nuisances and major transmitters of disease, mosquitoes are also important experimental animals. This book provides detailed descriptions of the functioning of mosquito sense organs and of the behavioral patterns that enable mosquitoes to survive in a variety of habitats and to find and attack their vertebrate hosts. Mosquitoes have been intensively studied, both in both laboratory and field, and this integrated review of their sensory mechanisms and behavior is an important advance in entomology and in medical biology.

William Faulkner: Novels 1926-1929: Soldiers' Pay / Mosquitoes / Flags in the Dust / The Sound and the Fury (Library of America)

Average customer rating:

Soldier's Pay best book I've read so far in LOA series
for the sound and the fury
Beautiful edition of Faulkner's first four novels including the masterpiece "The Sound and the Fury"
All of Faulkner's novels now available in exquisite Lib/America eds!
The Library of America's exquisite hardcover collection of four of William Faulkner's classic literary works

William Faulkner: Novels 1926-1929: Soldiers' Pay / Mosquitoes / Flags in the Dust / The Sound and the Fury (Library of America)
William Faulkner
Manufacturer: Library of America
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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William Faulkner : Novels 1930-1935 : As I Lay Dying, Sanctuary, Light in August, Pylon (Library of America)
William Faulkner : Novels 1942-1954 : Go Down, Moses / Intruder in the Dust / Requiem for a Nun / A Fable (Library of America)
William Faulkner: Novels, 1957-1962: The Town / The Mansion / The Reivers (Library of America)
William Faulkner : Novels 1936-1940 : Absalom, Absalom! / The Unvanquished / If I Forget Thee, Jerusalem / The Hamlet (Library of America)
Henry James: Novels 1901-1902: The Sacred Fount / The Wings of the Dove (Library of America)

ASIN: 1931082898

Book Description

The Library of America edition of the novels of William Faulkner culminates with this volume presenting his first four, each newly edited, and, in many cases, restored with passages that were altered or (in the case of Mosquitoes) expurgated by the original publishers. This is Faulkner as he was meant to be read.

In these four novels we can track Faulkner's extraordinary evolution as, over the course of a few years, he discovers and masters the mode and matter of his greatest works. Soldiers' Pay (1926) expresses the disillusionment provoked by World War I through its account of the postwar experiences of homecoming soldiers, including a severely wounded R.A.F. pilot, in a style of restless experimentation. In Mosquitoes (1927), a raucous satire of artistic poseurs, many of them modeled after acquaintances of Faulkner in New Orleans, he continues to try out a range of stylistic approaches as he chronicles an ill-fated cruise on Lake Pontchartrain.

With the sprawling Flags in the Dust (published in truncated form in 1929 as Sartoris), Faulkner began his exploration of the mythical region of Mississippi that was to provide the setting for most of his subsequent fiction. Drawing on family history from the Civil War and after, and establishing many characters who recur in his later books, Flags in the Dust marks the crucial turning point in Faulkner's evolution as a novelist.

The volume concludes with Faulkner's masterpiece, The Sound and the Fury (1929). This multilayered telling of the decline of the Compson clan over three generations, with its complex mix of narrative voices and its poignant sense of isolation and suffering within a family, is one of the most stunningly original American novels.

The editors of this volume are Joseph Blotner and Noel Polk. Joseph Blotner, who wrote the notes, is professor of English emeritus at the University of Michigan. Biographer of William Faulkner and Robert Penn Warren, he is a member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers and the French Legion of Honor. Noel Polk is professor of English at Mississippi State University and editor of The Mississippi Quarterly. He has edited the texts in all five volumes of William Faulkner's novels for The Library of America.

In his first four novels, William Faulkner moved beyond early experiments to discover the themes and style of his maturity. With Soldiers' Pay, a sardonic distillation of postwar disillusionment, and Mosquitoes, a freewheeling roman à clef satirizing the writers and artists of his New Orleans milieu, Faulkner served his restless apprenticeship as a writer of fiction before settling in Flags in the Dust (first published in truncated form as Sartoris) on the material that would chiefly engage him: a mythic Mississippi region dense with ancestral memories and echoes of the Civil War. The volume concludes with what many consider Faulkner's greatest work, The Sound and the Fury, a novel of family torment whose audacities of form and fearless explorations of the inner life continue to astonish. The newly edited texts in this volume include passages altered or in some cases expurgated by the original publishers.

Customer Reviews:

Soldier's Pay best book I've read so far in LOA series.......2007-08-29

Back a few years ago, I bought the entire series of Library of America books, some 173 books, each with as many as 1,600 small-print pages. Typically, each volume contains several books (say novels) by an author.

The quality of the writing they have selected is marvelous. There are very few "dogs". Below are my ratings of all the stuff I've read so far (a miniscule fraction of the total library), along with, of course, my completely nonsensical (often sports or pop culture) author nicknames.

And they keep sending me new books faster than I can read the existing ones...

Practically all that I've read ranges from good to fantastic, and I stop reading ones I don't like, so almost all of the books cited below are worthy by my standards. No stars means good, * means especially good, ** means great, and I think I also gave one book (Soldier's Pay by Faulkner) ***. The numbers are the series # of the book out of the 173 published so far.

A book of Henry James' fiction (not in the LOA series) that I read about 3 years ago got me started on this quest, a supplement to my quest of playing the entire history of baseball via APBA.

1. Herman "Franks" Melville: Typee* ("Idyllic") 316 pps
1. Herman "Franks" Melville: Omoo ("Picks up where Typee left off") 330 pps

2. Nathaniel "Nate the Skate" Hawthorne: Assorted Stories ("Some hard to follow") 301 pps

4. Harriet "and Ozzy" Beecher Stowe: Uncle Tom's Cabin** ("Uncle Tom is no 'Uncle Tom'") 520 pps

5. Mark "Shania" Twain: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer* ("Hilarious moments for a different kind of Tom") 216 pps

10. Nathaniel "Nate the Skate" Hawthorne: Fanshawe* ("Young scholar, romance, skullduggery") 114 pps

6. Jack "Gene" London: The Call of the Wild ("Savage") 86 pps
6. Jack "Gene" London: White Fang* ("Roger Vick-type dog-fighting
action") 198 pps

8. William Dean "Bailey" Howells: A Foregone Conclusion* ("Gripping, intricate romance") 172 pps
8. William Dean "Bailey" Howells: A Modern Instance ("Marriage gone awry in repressed times") 418 pps

11. Francis "Shibe" Parkman: Pioneers of France in the New World** ("What it was REALLY like") 330 pps
11. Francis "Shibe" Parkman: The Jesuits in North America* ("More of these accurate depictions") 382 pps

14. Henry "Don" Adams: Democracy** ("Real politics 1800's-style")

16. Washington "Dr. J" Irving: Early writings ("Boring at times") 87 pps

18. Stephen "Whooping" Crane: Maggie: A Girl of the Streets ("Fascinating but grim") 74 pps
18. Stephen "Whooping" Crane: The Red Badge of Courage* ("True face of war") 134 pps

19. Edgar "Teletubbie" Poe: Assorted Stories ("Truly weird") 188 pps

29. Henry "Edgeron" James: Washington Square* ("Plain woman trapped") 190 pps

30. Edith Wharton "School": The House of Mirth* ("Reese Witherspoon plays role in movie") 348 pps

33. Frank "Chuck" Norris: Vandover and the Brute ("Wolf-man emerges") 260 pps
33. Frank "Chuck" Norris: McTeague** ("Greed prevails") 312 pps

35. Willa "Thrilla" Cather: Assorted stories ("Oblique") 76 pps

36. Theodore "Early" Dreiser: Sister Carrie** ("Young lives go opposite directions") 456 pps

37. Benjamin "Joe" Franklin Assorted Writings* ("Brilliant satire") 87 pps

39. Flannery "Father" O'Connor: Wise Blood ("Liked better at 25") 132 pps

55. Richard "Gary" Wright: Lawd Today!** ("Unforgettable humor, violence") 220 pps

59. Sinclair "Jerry" Lewis: Main Street* ("Small-town USA") 486 pps

69. "Ornery" Sarah Orne Jewett: Deephaven* ("Atmospheric")

72. John "Franken" Steinbeck: The Pastures of Heaven** ("Modern Gothic") 170 pps

74. Zora Neale "Zorro" Hurston: Jonah's Gourd Vine ("Black preacher")

97. James "I think I'm going" Baldwin: Go Tell it on the Mountain ("Conversion experience") 216 pps

101. Eudora "The Explorer" Welty: The Robber Bridegroom ("Ridiculous fairy tale") 88 pps

103. Brockden "Les" Brown: Wieland* ("Early Gothic chills") 228 pps

111. Henry "Etta" James: Assorted Stories 1864-74** ("Consistently compelling") 430 pps

117. F. Scott "Ella" Fitzgerald: This Side of Paradise* ("Ultimately sublime") 252 pps

126. Dawn "Boog" Powell: Dance Night* ("Small-town romance in 1920's") 204 pps

134. Paul "Super" Bowles: The Sheltering Sky* ("Sophisticates lost in Africa") 252 pps

148. James T. "Turk" Farrell: Young Lonigan* ("Coming of age in tough streets") 176 pps

164. William Faulkner "Pontiac, Buick, GMC Trucks": Soldier's
Pay*** ("Unique, gripping") 256 pps
164. William Faulkner "Pontiac, Buick, GMC Trucks": Mosquitos** ("Indescribable romp") 284 pps
164. William Faulkner "Pontiac, Buick, GMC Trucks": Flags in the Dust ("Doomed family") 336 pps
164. William Faulkner "Pontiac, Buick, GMC Trucks": The Sound and the Fury ("Bewildering") 268 pps

for the sound and the fury .......2006-11-04

The Sound and the Fury is such a wonder of book, that I give this publication 5 stars just for providing us, finally with this beautiful edition. I haven't read the first three of these books, because they seem to be by an author who hasn't yet found his voice. Just to throw this out there, but I'd love to have his complete short stories (with notes) in this format. Don't you agree, Faulkner lovers?

Beautiful edition of Faulkner's first four novels including the masterpiece "The Sound and the Fury".......2006-08-30

We all owe the wonderful Library of America a great deal for publishing the volumes of William Faulkner's complete novels. It has taken more than twenty years to bring them out and now concludes with his first four novels. These were published from 1926 until 1929. This volume includes "Soldier's Pay", "Mosquitoes", "Flags in the Dust", and "The Sound and the Fury".

"Soldier's Pay" is a first novel and shows it. While it has some fine moments and shows Faulkner's style of presenting "reality" without context and focusing on emotional interiors and the aspects of life that we tend to hide even from ourselves, it is not a great work. However, it is still worth reading. The central figure is a disfigured and dying pilot brought home from the war by strangers into a complex family dynamic that is made much worse because the pilot was thought dead, but is now alive and horribly disabled.

I personally found "Mosquitoes" to be all but unreadable. It is too self-indulgent with a delight in talking about intimate things as if that were profound. No thanks.

"Flags in the Dust" was published in part as "Sartoris" in the late twenties. In 1973, Random House published the complete text as far as it could be restored. It reads much differently than his first two novels and it is here that the voice starts sounding like a mature and confident Faulkner. It concerns multiple generations that fester into ruin and misery of all kinds that seem to include perverse sexual relations and alcoholism. Yes, there is also racism in the books, but the books are not racist because the attitudes of the characters are consistent with their times and do not include any sympathy from Faulkner that I can find. And his is a worldwith living memories of the tragic Southern experience of the Civil War and the shock and loss of the Great War (WWI)for the living generation.

The volume ends with Faulner's first clear masterpiece, "The Sound and the Fury". While all Faulkner's prose is not easy to read and requires constant attention and often some re-reading, this book also has multiple unannounced perspectives and shifts in narrator. At the end of the book is an appendix that was first written by Faulkner for "The Portable Faulkner" edited by Matthew Cowley in 1946. You might want to read this first if you want to understand the story more clearly the first time through. However, it could be argued that you shouldn't because the confusion and disorientation is part of the reading experience that author wants you to have as you work through his story.

It is clear to me that Faulkner is a great master of prose and that his works are great treasures in the English language. However, his ethos is quite foreign to me. I do not find great value in reading about lives of misery, incest, adultery, perversion, ruin, and loss. Is that really all there is to human life? Not in my more than fifty years of experience. And since Faulkner was a young man when he wrote these works, what did he really know about life and what was just rumor and hearsay?

Still, the use of language is powerful and unique. Attempts have been made to copy aspects of his style, but none can come closer than mannerisms. Faulkner's was a genius that not only included his words, but in the way he conveyed reality. We don't experience our lives with chapter headings or with moments clearly delineated as part of this or that. We construct our filing system for events in retrospect. So, Faulkner presents us his stories in ways that require us to ask ourselves what is happening, what just happened, did anything happen? Where does this go? Who is this? Why the different names for the same people? Why the same names for different people? It is working through these and every other question that occurs to you that you come to an understanding of the work. And your understanding will almost certainly be personal and different from almost everyone else.

This is a fine volume with reliable texts for these important works, a chronology of Faulkner's life, notes on the texts, and a beautiful binding with materials and type that add to the quality of the reading experience.

All of Faulkner's novels now available in exquisite Lib/America eds!.......2006-04-15

Although chronologicallly the four novels in this volume (which includes Faulkner's masterpiece The Sound and the Fury) are Faulkner's first, this is the last volume of his novels to come off the presses of the Library of America. This is a landmark event in the world of Belles Lettres, not just American literature! The first volume (Novels 1930-35) was published in 1985, making the publication of the definitive texts of the novels of William Faulkner a 21-year enterprise. Kudos to Library of America and editors Noel Polk and Joseph Blotner.

For those who haven't heard of them, the Library of America (LOA) is a non-profit venture with the mission of publishing the definitive texts of the best of American literature in uniform clothbound editions designed to last. (Google them to find out more about their mission and for a complete list of titles in print and forthcoming.) But these are not just handsome books or cheesy Franklin Mint style collectables. Establishing the best texts for the works selected for the series is a difficult and tricky enterprise, and the most qualified scholars are sought to take on the series' diverse authors. For Faulkner this editorial task fell to two of the most prominent Faulkner scholars around, Joseph Blotner (also his biographer) and Noel Polk. LOA does not clutter up its pages with footnotes and does not commission literary introductions for its volumes, so the casual reader may be unaware of the extensive amount of scholarship that goes on "behind the scenes." As noted in brief "Notes on the Text" to the Novels 1926-1929, "By preserving Faulkner's spelling, punctuation, and wording, even when inconsistent or irregular, the Polk texts strive to be as faithful to Faulkner's usage as surviving evidence permits. In this volume, the reader has the results of the most detailed scholarly efforts thus far made to establish the texts of Soldier's Pay, Mosquitoes, Flags in the Dust, and The Sound and the Fury" (p. 1175).

Since the publisher's own description of this volume here on Amazon.com doesn't point this out, it should be noted that the version of The Sound and the Fury published by LOA includes the "Appendix (Compson: 1699-1945)" which does not exist in all editions of the novel still in print. Although this Appendix was first published in 1945 as part of The Portable Faulkner (16 years after the novel itself was published), I always found it perverse and annoying that it was excluded from all but the Modern Library edition of the novel. (After all, if readers want the experience of reading the novel in the pristine form of the 1929 first edition, all they have to do is ignore the Appendix.)

I don't know what else, if anything, of Faulkner's output LOA intends to publish going forward (short stories, screenplays, speeches, letters, poetry?), but these five volumes of novels contain (arguably?) the best works of American fiction by any author. Each volume is a handy size (though some contain four novels, they are all the size of one of Faulkner's novels as orinally published), and set in large and readable type. Buy them all and you can own all of Faulkner's best work without giving up three bookshelves to store them!

The Library of America's exquisite hardcover collection of four of William Faulkner's classic literary works.......2006-04-08

Faulkner Novels 1926-1929 is The Library of America's exquisite hardcover collection of four of William Faulkner's classic literary works: "Soldier's Pay", "Mosquitoes", "Flags in the Dust", and "The Sound and the Fury". Like all volumes in this publisher's authoritative texts of literary classics, Faulkner Novels 1926-1929 is a compact hardbound volume with a ribbon for easy bookmarking sewn into the spine. A chronology and sections of notes on the text as well as Faulkner's life round out this definitive "must-have" edition, ideal for public and college libraries as well as private reading shelves.

The Conquest of Malaria: Italy, 1900-1962

Average customer rating:

decades of struggle

The Conquest of Malaria: Italy, 1900-1962
Frank Snowden
Manufacturer: Yale University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Public Health | Administration & Policy | Medicine | Subjects | Books

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Naples in the Time of Cholera, 18841911
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Pox Americana: The Great Smallpox Epidemic of 1775-82

ASIN: 0300108990

Book Description

At the outset of the twentieth century, malaria was Italy’s major public health problem. It was the cause of low productivity, poverty, and economic backwardness, while it also stunted literacy, limited political participation, and undermined the army. In this book Frank Snowden recounts how Italy became the world center for the development of malariology as a medical discipline and launched the first national campaign to eradicate the disease.

Snowden traces the early advances, the setbacks of world wars and Fascist dictatorship, and the final victory against malaria after World War II. He shows how the medical and teaching professions helped educate people in their own self-defense and in the process expanded trade unionism, women’s consciousness, and civil liberties. He also discusses the antimalarial effort under Mussolini’s regime and reveals the shocking details of the German army’s intentional release of malaria among Italian civilians—the first and only known example of bioterror in twentieth-century Europe. Comprehensive and enlightening, this history offers important lessons for today’s global malaria emergency.

Customer Reviews:

decades of struggle.......2007-06-11

Nowadays, malaria is typically relegated to a few developing countries around the equator. But it also afflicted Italy during much of the early twentieth century. Especially the warm southern regions. In no small part, it laid low the productivity of the people. Snowden shows how it became the predominant public health issue for many Italian governments.

Progress against malaria was slow and fitful. Quinine was recognised and promoted freely to sufferers. A dramatic and measurable improvement over what came before. As seen in a table, where the mortality per million fell from 490 in 1900 to 57 in 1914. Few public treatments have been as effective and, indeed, as simple and cheap to implement.

But World War 1 led to a resurgence, due to the difficult conditions of hostilities and the drain on government resources for the war effort. The postwar rise of Mussolini gave an episode in the struggle against malaria. He saw defeating it as a huge boost to his government. Thus, massive resources were spent on efforts like draining the Pontine Marshes, and other similar efforts in Apulia and Tuscany.

World War 2 led to the 1944 episode where the Wehrmacht introduced bioterror, by enabling the breeding of Anopheles in swamps, as the German army retreated north. Snowden's description of this is well done. In Europe, at least, it was the only known use of bioterror in the 20th century. And in direct contravention to the Conventions that Germany had signed before the war. Some readers will also see parallels with the Japanese biological efforts in Manchuria during that war.

Ricky Ricotta #02: Giant Robot Vs. The Mutant Mosquitoes From Mercury (Ricky Ricotta)

Average customer rating:

Franks's Fan
Kids love it. Parents hate it
Another winner
A Whole Bunch of Laughter and Fun

Ricky Ricotta #02: Giant Robot Vs. The Mutant Mosquitoes From Mercury (Ricky Ricotta)
Dav Pilkey
Manufacturer: Blue Sky Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0590307223

Customer Reviews:

Franks's Fan.......2005-08-28

This was an okay book.I first picked up this book because I am a fan of Dav Pilkey, and the Captain Underpants series.However, there were a few things about this book that I did not like. 1.The text was way to simple.
2.There were more pictures than words. I woud recomond this book to anyone in the 4-6 age level. 7-etc. why don't you stick with Captain Underpants for the time being.

Kids love it. Parents hate it.......2002-05-19

My kids LOVE Captain Underpants, but I've found out the hard way that they don't make for very good read-aloud, bed time books. Be warned : These books are set up in comic strip form on a lot of their pages and without showing your kids EVERY page of the book while reading it, they'll be lost in the story. They're really good books, don't get me wrong, just not very good read-aloud book unless you are sitting in a circle or prepared to do the 'finger under the word as you read' type thing. My four and six year old LOVE them though.

Another winner.......2000-09-08

Again another excellent and fun book by Dave Pilkey. Great for early readers to read all on their own and to read to younger children, especially those who enjoy the Captain Underpants stories. An excellent book for children to learn that reading is fun.

A Whole Bunch of Laughter and Fun.......2000-08-28

If your child (or you) are a fan of Dav Pilkey and his silliness, this book will not disappoint. It's full of nonsense and fun! A great way to keep your child reading.

Hey, You!: Poems to Skyscrapers, Mosquitoes, and Other Fun Things

Average customer rating:

Hey, You!: Poems to Skyscrapers, Mosquitoes, and Other Fun Things
Paul B. Janeczko
Manufacturer: HarperCollins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Ages 4-8 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0060523476
Release Date: 2007-02-27

Book Description

What would you say to a mailbox?
What would you say to your shoe?
To a sea horse?
A snowflake?
A bee?
A mosquito?
An octopus?
Light?
The faraway moon?

What would you say to a poetry book?
Give it a try: Hey, you!

Mosquito: A Natural History of Our Most Persistent and Deadly Foe

Average customer rating:

Moquito: A review.
Don't bite on this one!
The Deadliest Insect of Them All
"If you are really unlucky, you might die"
A page turner...

Mosquito: A Natural History of Our Most Persistent and Deadly Foe
Andrew Spielman Sc.D. , and Michael D'Antonio
Manufacturer: Hyperion
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Science | Subjects | Books

Mosquito: The Story of Man's Deadliest Foe
Quinine: Malaria and the Quest for a Cure That Changed the World
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Parasite Rex : Inside the Bizarre World of Nature's Most Dangerous Creatures

ASIN: 0786867817

Amazon.com

Far from being just an itchy annoyance, a mosquito bite can also mark the transmission of a deadly disease. Millions worldwide die of malaria, yellow fever, and West Nile virus every year. Scientist Andrew Spielman tells the story of the tiny, ubiquitous insect, the diseases it carries, and the fight against them both in Mosquito.

Spielman, who has spent much of his career battling mosquitoes and mosquito-borne illness, knows his subject intimately--perhaps too intimately, as the section on the different species drags a bit. Better is his handling of various historic epidemics, from the malaria outbreak that caused the French to abandon the Panama Canal to the 1999 West Nile virus outbreak in New York City.

Spielman also recounts stories of how the tiny pests were thwarted, including the way DDT came to be used as a weapon in the cold war (take our side and we'll get rid of your mosquitoes)--and why these efforts ultimately failed. Most important, Spielman details how cities should prepare themselves for the inevitable epidemics ahead. --Sunny Delaney

Book Description

From its irritating whine to the sting and itch of its bite, the mosquito ranks near the bottom of mankinds list of favourite creatures. But these tiny insects, once merely a seasonal annoyance, now are capturing headlines worldwide as new information emerges about the diseases they carry, their migratory population, and their growing resistance to pesticides. Harvard professor Andrew Spielman has dedicated his life to understanding this insect, a passion that makes him the perfect guide to their amazing world and the perfect author of this lively, accessible book that offers an intriguing and horrifying mosquito-eye view of nature and man. He explains where mosquitoes breed, and how they die, showing us their natural foes and man-made enemies while explaining the myriad diseases they bring to all corners of the world. Spielman offers colourful examples of how the mosquito has insinuated itself into human history, from the defeat of Sir Francis Drakes fleet to the death of thousands of Frenchmen working on the Panama Canal to the recent widespread West Nile panic in New York City. Filled with little-known facts and illuminating anecdotes that bring this tiny being into larger focus, Mosquito offers fascinating, alarming, and convincing evidence that the sooner we get to know this little creature, the better off well be.

Customer Reviews:

Moquito: A review........2007-03-13

Mosquito: A Natural History Of Our Most Persistent And Deadly Foe
by Andrew Spielman, Sc.D., and Michael D'Antonio
Hard cover - 226 pages (June 13, 2001). Hyperion Books, ISBN;0-7868-6781-7; Dimensions: unknown.

Reviewed by Keith Jackson.

On a warm summer's evening, the persistant hum of a mosquito sends us into a frenzy of flailing arms intent on squashing out her existence . A simple pest in our eyes in this day and age, and yet just a few decades ago, in this country, that same hum could be a precursor to weeks or months of painful suffering or even death at the "hands" of microscopic pathogens she harbored in her mouth (I use a female pronoun, as for the most part, only the female mosquito does the biting).

"Mosquito" takes the reader on a journey through time from ancient Greece, Rome and Africa through contemporary times in the United States and South America. Spielman and D' Antonio seamlessly incorporate world history with a crash course in biology, focusing mainly on mosquito vector borne diseases. Malaria, Dengue and Yellow Fever occupy many of the pages, as do their specific species of vector.

The book is organized into three parts, each with three chapters. The first part, the "Magnificent Enemy," portrays the mosquito as more than just another biting bug. It shows the reader how well adapted, truly beautiful, and wonderful she actually is. The life cycles are explained in terms that the layman can easily follow, and some illustrations are furnished as an aid.

One of my favorite chapters in the book, "Tigers and Tires," depicted how extremely well this insect can adapt to an ever changing world, and how humans are an enormous factor in how well the insects can spread to and flourish in nonnative habitats. The chapter focuses on the Asian Tiger Mosquito (Aedes albopictus) which is usually an insect that breeds in dark holes beneath tree roots and the like. They came to this country from Asia in large vessels that carried tires that had been re-treaded in Japan and returned to the US for use. The tires make excellent substitutes for dark, wet holes in which the tiger found to be a perfect breeding ground; the tiger mosquito quickly invaded the southeast U.S. She can play host to some virulent pathogens like, Dengue, Easter Equine Encephalitis, and West Nile virus, among others. She feeds on animal as well as human, which as the author points out has positive and negative effects. While she can acquire pathogens from her mammalian blood meals and transmit them to humans, her chance of feeding on human blood is lowered by having other options to nourish her egg laying (Spielman and D' Antonio, 2001).

The science behind the discovery of the mosquito being the vector to many pathogens is addressed in part two of the book. Spielman (et al) uses many stories throughout the book to tie the entomology into situations that were occurring during each time period that he speaks about; from the development of the compound microscope, in times when man didn't believe that a miniscule bug could transmit a disease, through the discovery of the sporozoites of Malaria in Anophaline mosquitos. During which time, the authors share stories of brave men and their survival in the Ivory Coast (where Malaria is thought to have originated) and more personal stories of letters between scientists like Manson and Ross from across the globe working toward a common goal (establishing the life cycle of Malaria).

Part three consisted of more current times, when political leaders used their knowledge of insect vectors and pathogen transmission against the Mosquito. They waged wars against the vampiric insect to dispel the horrible diseases she caused using chemicals such as DDT without concern of ecological implications . They changed the landscape by creating drainage ditches, or changed the grades of river banks, depending on the type mosquito they were faced with. A story about using that same information for more villanous effects came during W.W.II when it was noticed that vector borne diseases seemed to aid in battle by weakening enemy forces. In one of the chapters in this part, Spielman elaborates on how the military (German in this case) destroyed flood gates around Rome, which changed the salinity of the water and created a perfect breeding ground for Anopheles species which resulted in an epidemic of Malaria.

I enjoyed this book for the most part; while I am not a history buff in the least, the way the authors tied the history to the biology was beautifully done. That being said, in a few chapters, I felt as though I was reading about politics rather than the beautiful insect vectors at hand. I would also like to have seen more photographs of the insects, their larvae, and pupae. The couple visuals that were supplied were either of rare species or illustrations and maps of disease prone areas. I also felt the background behind the pathology was lacking, many cases were described and symptoms discussed, but I was comfortable understanding them only due to my medical background; Im not sure how well a lay person would follow. On a whole, I recommend the book to anyone who has ever stopped and looked at the mosquito in all her beauty before swatting her away, to the biology lovers of the world, to any historians who would like to see how a tiny bug can help shape or destroy a society, or to anyone who just blindly slaps when they hear that tell-tale hum.

Don't bite on this one!.......2003-12-05

As far as I can tell, this is essentially the same book as "Mosquito: The Story of Man's Deadliest Foe." The first couple of chapters are interesting, but after that, the writing becomes vague, repetitious, and inconsistent in tone, diction, and quality. What should have been a fascinating book filled with both technical information and personal anecdotes (one of the authors is, after all, a leading researcher in mosquito-borne diseases) instead is filled with generalities and handwaving and reads like a C+ term paper hastily pulled from the internet (really!). Don't waste your time!

The Deadliest Insect of Them All.......2003-08-22

Mosquitoes are perhaps the most dangerous of all insects. Somewhere around 2 million people die each year from mosquito-vectored human malaria alone- many more than are killed in traffic accidents (source: WHO.) Andrew Spielman and Michael D'Antonio have now produced a book that documents the life history of and human association with these tiny vampires and they have generally done a very good job. If you want to know some fascinating facts about mosquitoes, this is a good source.

Unfortunately the maps of the distributions of both mosquitoes and the diseases they carry are somewhat out of date. Aedes aegypti is now in Tucson, Las Cruces, and El Paso in the Southwest U.S., and West Nile is in almost every state. Also the information about the vectors of West Nile Virus is an oversimplification. In the western US at least, Culex tarsalis my be a more efficient vector than C. pipiens.

Despite these minor flaws, I highly recommend this book. It is one of the best general work on the subject since J. D. Gillett's book "The Mosquito." Unfortunately both are now out of print.

"If you are really unlucky, you might die".......2003-03-18

"The saliva that they leave behind might make you itchy, or if you are really unlucky, you might die".

If you are like me and seem to attract these buzzing beasts you will enjoy this book, although bear in mind it is rather technical and written mainly for the scientifically minded.

Some useful information includes:

-carbon dioxide and heat attracts them, (but it doesn't seem to be explained here why they seem to like some people more than others, or whether it is just that some people react to bites more than others),
-various species attack different parts of the body (eg some the ankles, some the head),
-some don't attack humans at all,
-some attack only humans and monkeys,
-colours vary-some are black and white striped, (these cause yellow fever), others are brown, others dominantly grey.
-the mosquito has had a significant effect on human history through various mosquito borne diseases (eg Dengue, Yellow Fever, Malaria, Encephalitus, and Rift Valley Fever).
-various mosquito-borne diseases are exclusive to birds, some cross from birds to man, some from horses to man, some from monkeys to man, etc.

Some historical plagues and the diseases transmitted by mosquitoes are described eg Dengue, Yellow Fever, Malaria , Encephalitus, and Rift Valley Fever. Historically, it was initially ridiculed that tiny organisms could carry tiny diseases, but careful observation and scientific method eventually won the day over 'folk psychology'. Mosquitoes, through recognition of their association with yellow fever and malaria, played a major part in the development of germ theory, and by association much of modern medicine. Pasteur's germ theory, partially based on work done on mosquitoes as disease carriers, contributed much to humankind's better general health in the latter 19th century in particular. Good sanitation and community health went hand in hand with ongoing scientific research, including that done on mosquito-borne diseases.

Sanitation has been surprisingly effective against mosquito-borne diseases. Limiting stagnant water and widespread use of household netting has been proven to greatly reduce disease rates. The presence of marshes and wetlands increases prevalence, but so does the presence of the longer- lived and more aggressive species (Incidentally, Alaska has amongst the most aggressive mossies of all-which anyone who has been there in the summer will tell you).

A useful read, scientifically astute, but perhaps a little dry, along with most other medical-style texts I have read. Worthwhile.

A page turner..........2002-01-28

It reads like a fast paced novel and I could not keep it down...
One is surprised by how much they learn from the book and it is a great read for anybody who has ever thought "Why can't we just get rid of these things?"...

Book Description

These are the highly evocative wartime memoirs of a young NCO pilot whose operational experience was with Beaufighters and Mosquitoes flying in the long-range night-fighter role.

It is not a gung-ho account of daring-do, but a 'warts and all' story of what life was really like in that time of international crisis. No punches are pulled when the author experienced badly designed and dangerous aircraft, such as the Merlin-engined Beaufighter that was almost impossible to fly and killed many pilots during training, nor are the blinding errors made by those staff officers who conceived impossible tasks and operations which these young airmen were ordered to fly and survive.

Threaded into a fascinating story of flying with the then leading-edge electronic technology, are the entirely human tales of nights out on the town, when stressed crews could relieve the stress of combat.

Some hilarious accounts of wild nights on the ground blend comfortably with the dark skies over Europe and the endless search for the invisible Luftwaffe who were tasked with the destruction of Allied heavy bombers.

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