Rats, Lice and History


Rats, Lice and History is a 1935 popular science book by bacteriologist Hans Zinsser on the subject of typhus, a disease on which he performed significant research. He frames the book as a "biography" of typhus, tracing its destructive path since the earliest civilizations. He argues that infectious diseases like typhus have had an inordinate but underappreciated impact on the course of human history, as he expresses in this excerpt:
Several later works, including Plagues and Peoples and Guns, Germs and Steel, echoed this idea.
Written for a lay audience, Rats, Lice and History showcased Zinsser's wry and literate style. The book was well received by readers, reaching the top ten in nonfiction bestsellers, and has since gone through many editions.

Summary

The book is divided into sixteen chapters. As noted in the original subtitle, Being a Study in Biography, Which, After Twelve Preliminary Chapters Indispensable for the Preparation of the Lay Reader, Deals with the Life History of Typhus Fever, the proper "biography" of typhus does not appear until the final four chapters.
The first 200 pages provide background information on topics such as:
Having received a comprehensive education in liberal arts as well as science and medicine, Zinsser refers throughout to classical works, occasionally quoting passages in Latin, French, and German. In the text and footnotes, he engages in odd speculations, e.g., would the conquest of the Aztecs have proceeded differently if Cortés brought his wife with him, or what if D. H. Lawrence had painted Lady Chatterley instead of writing a novel about her? The book's discursiveness and droll interactions with the reader are illustrated in the chapter titles, for instance, "Chapter X: More about the louse: the need for this chapter will be apparent to those who have entered into the spirit of this biography". The New York Times said of the author that he possessed a rare combination of qualities: a deep scientific expertise along with "the energy and the curiosity to master the humanities. Dr. Zinsser's approach is that of a human being looking at humanity and at life in general, and linking his ideas together with the aid of the subject he knows best—namely, the epidemic diseases of mankind. He is never in the least pretentious, but he has the catholicity of a man who has taken all knowledge to be his province."

Reception

Upon its release, Rats, Lice and History received an overwhelmingly positive critical reception. In a front-page review in the New York Herald Tribune Books, physician and medical writer Logan Clendening wrote, "It is impossible for me to overpraise this fascinating volume". In The New York Times Book Review, R. L. Duffus said that "Dr. Zinsser, without being condescending and with no taint of 'popularization,' has written one of the wisest and wittiest books that have come off the presses in many a long month."
Rats, Lice and History was listed by The New York Times as the 8th bestselling nonfiction book of 1935.
Later generations of scientists and physicians, such as Emil Frei and Gerald Weissmann, cited Rats, Lice and History as an inspiration for their scientific careers.