[A biography of infectious diseases: Hans Zinsser and his Rats, Lice and History]

Article in Chinese, title: 为传染病作传——秦瑟与《老鼠、虱子和历史》

摘要

秦瑟是美国20世纪早期著名的细菌学及免疫学家，在斑疹伤寒的病原菌及其疫苗的研究领域颇有建树，并以其名字重新命名了流行性斑疹伤寒。他的经典著作《老鼠、虱子和历史》从具体案例入手，以斑疹伤寒和媒介生物的发展历程为线索，梳理了传染病及其涉及生物的协同演化脉络，更揭示了传染病对人类历史改变的巨大影响。书中摈弃了传统的以人类为主角的写作模式，将人类与微生物置于平等的地位进行考察。作者引经据典，分析传染病的病理学特征，以专业的视角对梅毒的起源、雅典瘟疫等历史上的传染病事件提出了独到的见解，并呼吁历史学家将传染病史纳入历史诠释的范畴之中。《老鼠、虱子和历史》问世后多次再版，后世学者在此基础上进一步将疾病史置于更宏大的人类历史的背景下考察，增强了对于生态、政治等因素的综合考量，促进了生命科学与历史学等多学科相结合的全球疾病史研究的发展

English abstract

Hans Zinsser, a well-known bacteriologist and immunologist in the United States in the early 20th century, made great advancement in the research of pathogen of typhus and its vaccine, with the epidemic typhus renamed after him. His masterpiece, Rats, Lice and History, teased out the co-evolutionary process of infectious diseases and their related organisms, focusing on specific cases and the development history of typhus. In this sense, he revealed the tremendous impact of infectious diseases on human history. He examined microorganisms and humans equally rather than simply from a human point of view. He analysed the pathological features of infectious diseases and provided professional insights into historical events of infectious diseases, such as the origin of syphilis and the plague of Athens, based on sufficient citations and references. He also advocated interpreting the history of infectious diseases with a holistic insight of history. His book, Rats, Lice and History, has been reprinted many times after its first publication, driving the following scholars to put the history of infectious diseases into a grand background of human development, enhancing the comprehension of ecology and politics and promoting the development of research in the history of diseases including life sciences, history and other disciplines.