- Paperback: 300 pages
- Publisher: Cambridge University Press; Reprint edition (April 29 1988)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0521347734
- ISBN-13: 978-0521347730
- Product Dimensions: 2.3 x 1.6 x 0.2 cm
- Shipping Weight: 481 g
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #919,153 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Product Details |
Product Description
Product Description
The first modern survey of the long and fascinating history of the various ideas and theories about the cause of scurvy, the nutritional deficiency disease that has caused (with the exception of famine) the most human suffering in recorded history. Professor Carpenter documents the arguments that led to the numerous theories about the disease and eventually to the isolation and synthesis of vitamin C (ascorbic acid), and illustrates how the changing ideas about scurvy reflected the scientific and medical beliefs of different periods in history. The author also examines the modern claims for the use of very high levels of vitamin C to bring about a state of super-health, and he analyses the most important evidence for and against this practice. This fascinating story in the history of science and medicine will be of interest to the historian, scientist and the general reader.
Book Description
This is a survey of the long and fascinating history of the various ideas and theories about the cause of scurvy. The fascinating story in the history of science and medicine will be of interest to the historian, scientist and the general reader.
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
At the end of the Middle Ages, sailors began to make ever more daring voyages out from Western Europe. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
At the end of the Middle Ages, sailors began to make ever more daring voyages out from Western Europe. Read the first page
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Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
The bible on Scurvy,
By
This review is from: The History of Scurvy and Vitamin C (Paperback)
This is the bible on scurvy and its cure. Scurvy is said to have caused more misery then all diseases and to have killed 100,000s of people at sea. This book was the first true study of the disease and the history of mans seek to cure it. During the age of sail every voyage was plagued with preventing scurvy. Most prone to scurvy were the exploration expeditions that the Europeans launched all over the world from the 1400s to the late 1800s. For 400 years, as this book supremely documents, Scurvy was THE problem with seafaring, because if the crew died it really didn't matter if you found land or not. Thus many remedies were tested and tried, some that did NOTHING and others that hit the nail on the head without realizing it. For instance it was observed that the Eskimoes, who subsisted on an all meat diet, did not have scurvy. The European sailors who were experimenting by bringing using fresh vegetables to combat the Scurvy, were suddenly dumfounded, not realizing that Vitamin C existed potently in raw meat as it did in Limes. This wonderful book weaves many amazing tales of hardship, survival, experimentation and the like. An important work and a good read.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
5.0 out of 5 stars (1 customer review) 9 of 11 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
The bible on Scurvy,
By Seth J. Frantzman - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The History of Scurvy and Vitamin C (Paperback)
This is the bible on scurvy and its cure. Scurvy is said to have caused more misery then all diseases and to have killed 100,000s of people at sea. This book was the first true study of the disease and the history of mans seek to cure it. During the age of sail every voyage was plagued with preventing scurvy. Most prone to scurvy were the exploration expeditions that the Europeans launched all over the world from the 1400s to the late 1800s. For 400 years, as this book supremely documents, Scurvy was THE problem with seafaring, because if the crew died it really didn't matter if you found land or not. Thus many remedies were tested and tried, some that did NOTHING and others that hit the nail on the head without realizing it. For instance it was observed that the Eskimoes, who subsisted on an all meat diet, did not have scurvy. The European sailors who were experimenting by bringing using fresh vegetables to combat the Scurvy, were suddenly dumfounded, not realizing that Vitamin C existed potently in raw meat as it did in Limes. This wonderful book weaves many amazing tales of hardship, survival, experimentation and the like. An important work and a good read.
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