TRUE STORIES OF PIONEER PATIENTS AND MEDICAL DISCOVERY
In his haste to leave Upbury Farm in Yetminster, Benjamin Jesty did not even bother to mend the broken gates and fences for the new owner. He didn’t care about paying the heavy fine for the infraction, as was customary in 1796. Jesty, a farmer in his mid-sixties, hefty, balding, with a reveried gaze, was... Continue Reading →
This article also appeared in Time and HNN It is a master of stealth, stretching less than half an inch long and weighing in at 2.5 milligrams with as estimated air speed of 1 to 1.5 miles per hour. It is virtually soundless in flight, registering zero decibels from ten feet. Its tracking systems hone... Continue Reading →
The word "quarantine," comes from the Italian phrase quarantina giorni, 'forty days.' It referred to the fourteenth century regulation in Venice that required ships arriving from plague-infested countries to keep their distance from the port for forty days. As the Black Death claimed about fifteen million lives in Europe, the Venetian concern was quite well... Continue Reading →
It began in Nzara, a town inhabited by 20,000 people living in thatch-roofed houses within the dense woods in southern Sudan. Roughly five percent of the population worked in a large cotton factory that was owned by an even larger agricultural company. The factory kept detailed records of its employees' work hours, perhaps to keep close tabs on absenteeism. Fortunately, it also helped investigators track the pattern of a deadly virus transmission.
FIRST PATIENTS 