This thesis will examine the triumph over anthrax that never really happened. In the history of diseases and medicine, Triumphalism or the triumphal story is a common genre of historical writing. At first glance, it may seem as if the standard triumphal story applies to the history of anthrax. Robert Koch and Louis Pasteur, the heroes of bacteriology, made their major discoveries in anthrax in the 1870s and 1880s. Then, John Henry Bell?s work in the Bradford wool mills in England created a practical application of Koch and Pasteur?s findings. Bell makes his recommendations to the British government, and the story is over. The disease is understood, and thus there is a medical standard to follow. But it is doubtful that there will be very many more cases because science and medicine have solved the problem. Unfortunately, this narrative is just too simple, and in this thesis, I will show how anthrax does not fit into the mold of a triumphal story and is, instead, a story about an industrial disease from the beginning using outbreaks and legislation that manifested after Koch, Pasteur, and Bell made their breakthroughs in the 1880s.
Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:NCSU/oai:NCSU:etd-05042007-194510 |
Date | 12 June 2007 |
Creators | Collier, Sarah Elizabeth |
Contributors | David Zonderman, William Kimler, Lauren Minsky |
Publisher | NCSU |
Source Sets | North Carolina State University |
Language | English |
Detected Language | English |
Type | text |
Format | application/pdf |
Source | http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/theses/available/etd-05042007-194510/ |
Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dis sertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to NC State University or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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