The Blue Death: Disease, Disaster, and the Water We Drink
HarperCollins - HarperCollins
Release date: 2007-07-31
Hardcover
Author: Robert D. Morris
Water Purification, Medical, Consumer Health, Medical / Nursing, Diseases - General, Epidemiology, General, History, Infectious Diseases, Science / General, Cholera, Drinking water, Epidemiologists, Health & Fitness, Water Supply, Waterborne infection
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The Blue Death: Disease, Disaster, and the Water We Drink
Date undefinedThe first section of this book reads like a mystery thriller only it was true of the situation in London just 100 years before most of us were born. The rampant use of denial, obfuscation, and just plain lies by the medical and political power base is amazing. That is "big egos running wild"! They expressed themselves or failed to express like the EPA at the expense of the health and lives of many people. The book "Reclaiming Our Health" by John Robbins, 1996, shows it is still going on today. Just take note of all the repeated ads for pharmaceuticals you don't need on the network news broadcasts each evening. Critical thinking is necessary to protect yourself and your loved ones. Dr. John Snow was a Master of critical thinking, a gift to the human race! I have read approximately 2 to 3 books a week all my adult life and seldom read fiction. The best books are often first mentioned in a book I read. Elizabeth Royte's excellent book "Bottlemania" tipped me off to this book. Both are must reads. As stated in Royte's book, "We can live without oil, but not clean water".
Blessings on both authors and all their loved ones! They have served their fellow humans very well!
The Blue Death: Disease, Disaster, and the Water We Drink
Date undefinedEngaging, enlightening -- could not put the book down. If you drink water you must educate yourself and read this book. Dr Morris weaves his points with medical research history and brings you to the present conclusion, our water is still not safe, millions still die each year from drinking it. His conclusions inspire you to do something about it locally and globally. Thank you for the references, too. I am inspired to read more about these topics and subtopics.
The Blue Death: Disease, Disaster, and the Water We Drink
Date undefinedRobert Morris' book is great for anyone who is interested in issues of drinking water supply and safety. For that reason I give it five stars.
I was puzzled by a major omission. Morris mentions repeatedly that population growth is straining the water supply. Why is there no follow-up on this? In the book's conclusion, Morris makes seven proposals to guard against present and future threats to safe drinking water. Population control does not even appear on the list. It should have been #1. Without population control, most of Morris' proposals either won't be possible or won't work to reduce the problem. If we don't take steps soon to stabilize world population, waterborne disease may well become one of the major Grim Reapers doing it for us.
Morris also discusses how strained municipal and other local government resources are in the U.S., making it difficult to invest in necessary water infrastructure. I would like to point out that a major reason governments are so strained is that in the last few decades a huge percentage of local revenues has gone to automobile infrastructure--roads, highways, parking lots, and the like. America sooner or later needs to rethink its love affair with the automobile. For more on this, see Kunstler's book Geography of Nowhere: The Rise and Decline of America's Man-Made Landscape and Shoup's book The High Cost of Free Parking.
