Rats, Lice and History

Short description: 1935 popular science book by Hans Zinsser

Rats, Lice and History

Cover of the 1963 reprint edition

Author| Hans Zinsser
Country| United States
Language| English
Subject| typhus, history, epidemics
Genre| popular science
Publisher| Little, Brown and Company

Publication date

| 1935
Media type| print
Pages| 301
OCLC| 805696791

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:

> Soldiers have rarely won wars. They more often mop up after the barrage of epidemics. And typhus, with its brothers and sisters—plague, cholera, typhoid, dysentery—has decided more campaigns than Caesar, Hannibal, Napoleon, and the inspectors general of history. The epidemics get the blame for defeat, the generals get the credit for victory. It ought to be the other way around.[1]

Several later works, including Plagues and Peoples and Guns, Germs and Steel, echoed this idea.[2]

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.

## Contents

* 1 Summary
* 2 Reception
* 3 References

## 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.[3]

The first 200 pages provide background information on topics such as:[3][4]

* Scientific concepts and definitions (e.g., Chapter III: "Leading up to the definition of bacteria and other parasites, and digressing briefly into the question of the origin of life"; Chapter IV: "On parasitism in general, and on the necessity of considering the changing nature of infectious diseases in the historical study of epidemics")
* Diseases of the ancient world (Chapter VI) and their effect on political and military history (Chapters VII and VIII)
* The important vectors of typhus mentioned in the title, rats and lice (Chapters IX through XI)

Having received a comprehensive education in liberal arts as well as science and medicine,[5] Zinsser refers throughout to classical works, occasionally quoting passages in Latin, French, and German (without translation). 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 (compared by one reviewer to Laurence Sterne's Tristram Shandy[6]) 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."[4]

## 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".[5] 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."[4]

Rats, Lice and History was listed by The New York Times as the 8th bestselling nonfiction book of 1935.[7]

Later generations of scientists and physicians, such as Emil Frei[8] and Gerald Weissmann, cited Rats, Lice and History as an inspiration for their scientific careers.[9]

## References

1. ↑ Zinsser, Hans (1960). Rats, Lice and History. New York: Bantam Books. p. 113. OCLC 1120357223.
2. ↑ Nielsen, Nick (November 20, 2024). "Zinsser's Naturalistic History of Infectious Disease". https://jnnielsen.medium.com/zinssers-naturalistic-history-of-infectious-disease-6962cbf064c7.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Gaydosik, Victoria (2022). "Rats, Lice, and History by Hans Zinsser". EBSCO Research. https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/literature-and-writing/rats-lice-and-history-hans-zinsser.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Duffus, R. L. (February 17, 1935). "Man's War Against Pestilence; Dr. Zinsser Makes a Remarkable Excursion Into History". The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/1935/02/17/archives/mans-war-against-pestilence-dr-zinsser-makes-a-remarkable-excursion.html.
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Grob, Gerald N. (2007). "Introduction to the Transaction Edition". Rats, Lice and History. Transaction Publishers. pp. xxi–xxii. ISBN 978-1-4128-0672-5. https://books.google.com/books?id=zc8IAQAAQBAJ&pg=PR21.
6. ↑ Van Gelder, Robert (February 9, 1935). "Books of the Times". The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/1935/02/09/archives/books-of-the-times.html.
7. ↑ Schuessler, Jennifer (December 12, 2008). "Inside the List". https://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/14/books/review/InsideList-t.html.
8. ↑ Fox, Margalit (4 May 2013). "Emil Frei III, Who Put Cancer Cures in Reach, Dies at 89". The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/05/science/emil-frei-iii-who-put-cancer-cures-in-reach-dies-at-89.html.
9. ↑ Weissmann, Gerald (March 2005). "Rats, Lice, and Zinsser". Emerging Infectious Diseases 11 (3): 492–496. doi:10.3201/eid1103.ad1103. PMID 15789497. PMC 3298258. https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/11/3/pdfs/ad-1103.pdf. Retrieved February 25, 2019.

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