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People, Parasites, and Plowshares: Learning from Our Body's Most Terrifying Invaders
Dickson D. Despommier's vivid, visceral account of the biology, behavior, and history of parasites follows the interplay between these fascinating life forms and human society over thousands of years. Despommier focuses on long-term host-parasite associations, which have evolved to avoid or even subvert the human immune system. Some parasites do great damage to their hosts, while others have signed a kind of "peace treaty" in exchange for their long lives within them. Many parasites also practice clever survival strategies that medical scientists hope to mimic as they search for treatments for Crohn's disease, food allergies, type 1 diabetes, organ transplantation, and other medical challenges.
Despommier concentrates on particularly remarkable and often highly pathogenic organisms, describing their lifecycles and the mechanisms they use to avoid elimination. He details their attack and survival plans and the nature of the illnesses they cause in general terms, enabling readers of all backgrounds to steal a glimpse into the secret work of such effective invaders. He also points to the cultural contexts in which these parasites thrive and reviews the current treatments available to defeat them. Encouraging scientists to continue to study these organisms even if their threat is largely contained, Despommier shows how closer dissection of the substances parasites produce to alter our response to them could help unravel some of our most complex medical conundrums.
Despommier concentrates on particularly remarkable and often highly pathogenic organisms, describing their lifecycles and the mechanisms they use to avoid elimination. He details their attack and survival plans and the nature of the illnesses they cause in general terms, enabling readers of all backgrounds to steal a glimpse into the secret work of such effective invaders. He also points to the cultural contexts in which these parasites thrive and reviews the current treatments available to defeat them. Encouraging scientists to continue to study these organisms even if their threat is largely contained, Despommier shows how closer dissection of the substances parasites produce to alter our response to them could help unravel some of our most complex medical conundrums.
- GenresScienceBiologyNonfiction
240 pages, Paperback
First published July 9, 2013
11 people are currently reading
166 people want to read
About the author
Dickson D. Despommier
18 books30 followersDickson Donald Despommier was an American academic, microbiologist and ecologist who was a professor of microbiology and Public Health at Columbia University. From 1971 to 2009, he conducted research on intracellular parasitism and taught courses on parasitic diseases, medical ecology and ecology. Despommier received media coverage for his ideas on vertical farming.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
August 16, 2019
Parasitology was my favorite class in college. This was a nice reminder of everything that made that class fascinating. I'm pleased with how much I still remember.
July 9, 2017
The people who study parasites for a living, are not exactly like you and I. That they find the elaborate microbes which they study to be fascinating, is not unusual. They ARE fascinating, and not only in the train-wreck, I hate to look but I can't look away sense. They have a fascinating and diverse suite of lives, almost as if several distinctly different species that lived in different environments played leapfrog with one another. They are escape artists, serial killers, and con men all in one.
However, the people who find them not only interesting, but "I want to spend the rest of my life studying this" fascinating, are just a little bit different than the rest of us. For example, they are the kind of people who decide to put a picture of a tapeworm's mouth right on the cover, zoomed in real close so you can see it in detail. There were other pictures which I won't even describe for you, of what it looks like when a parasite is too successful in its human host. There were a couple occasions when I would decide to place my bookmark over a drawing or picture, so as not to have to look at it while reading the rest of the page. But, it was worth it.
From the time when humans became successful enough, we have been a magnet for parasites. Not that other animals don't have them, but any parasite that can find a way to exist in humans (or one of the animals like cows or pigs that we breed in huge numbers) wins the jackpot in the parasite lottery. Our ability to stockpile food, and live together in ever larger numbers, made us the inevitable target of increasing numbers of parasites. It didn't help that we discovered how to build in cities, long before we got the hang of making adequate systems for sewage disposal. Until relatively recently, cities relied on a constant stream or reinforcements from the countryside, because otherwise disease killed off too many of the inhabitants to maintain their population size.
Thus, when we study parasites, we are also studying humanity and its past. Also, sadly, for a large part of the world, its present status. Only in the last 50 years or so have sewage treatment and antibiotics and anthelmintics (drugs for getting rid of worms) spread to enough of the world to start to change this on a large scale. Many of these parasites have been living in us for tens or hundreds of thousands of years (or more), and the various ways they have developed to remain alive, and even prosper, inside a human with a functioning immune system, make for engaging reading.
Anything that is that adapted to living in humans, probably has a few things to teach us about how we work (or fail to). Despommier is concerned that we will succeed in eliminating these ancient adversaries, before we succeed in learning from them everything we could be. With the recent exponential rise in problems from autoimmune disorders and allergies, it is not too hard to believe that anything we can learn about manipulating our immune systems might be useful. Hence, the "plowshares" of the book title.
I will not be likely to ever have a say in whether or not research of that sort gets funding. However, if I did, I would be happy for some of my tax dollars to go towards finding out everything we can about how these villains go about their business. Parasites are a problem for any successful system, biological or otherwise, and the more we know about them, the better we can devise (or fine tune) systems for controlling them without too much collateral damage. I also hope to read more of what we've learned in the future.
But, maybe, without quite so many pictures.
However, the people who find them not only interesting, but "I want to spend the rest of my life studying this" fascinating, are just a little bit different than the rest of us. For example, they are the kind of people who decide to put a picture of a tapeworm's mouth right on the cover, zoomed in real close so you can see it in detail. There were other pictures which I won't even describe for you, of what it looks like when a parasite is too successful in its human host. There were a couple occasions when I would decide to place my bookmark over a drawing or picture, so as not to have to look at it while reading the rest of the page. But, it was worth it.
From the time when humans became successful enough, we have been a magnet for parasites. Not that other animals don't have them, but any parasite that can find a way to exist in humans (or one of the animals like cows or pigs that we breed in huge numbers) wins the jackpot in the parasite lottery. Our ability to stockpile food, and live together in ever larger numbers, made us the inevitable target of increasing numbers of parasites. It didn't help that we discovered how to build in cities, long before we got the hang of making adequate systems for sewage disposal. Until relatively recently, cities relied on a constant stream or reinforcements from the countryside, because otherwise disease killed off too many of the inhabitants to maintain their population size.
Thus, when we study parasites, we are also studying humanity and its past. Also, sadly, for a large part of the world, its present status. Only in the last 50 years or so have sewage treatment and antibiotics and anthelmintics (drugs for getting rid of worms) spread to enough of the world to start to change this on a large scale. Many of these parasites have been living in us for tens or hundreds of thousands of years (or more), and the various ways they have developed to remain alive, and even prosper, inside a human with a functioning immune system, make for engaging reading.
Anything that is that adapted to living in humans, probably has a few things to teach us about how we work (or fail to). Despommier is concerned that we will succeed in eliminating these ancient adversaries, before we succeed in learning from them everything we could be. With the recent exponential rise in problems from autoimmune disorders and allergies, it is not too hard to believe that anything we can learn about manipulating our immune systems might be useful. Hence, the "plowshares" of the book title.
I will not be likely to ever have a say in whether or not research of that sort gets funding. However, if I did, I would be happy for some of my tax dollars to go towards finding out everything we can about how these villains go about their business. Parasites are a problem for any successful system, biological or otherwise, and the more we know about them, the better we can devise (or fine tune) systems for controlling them without too much collateral damage. I also hope to read more of what we've learned in the future.
But, maybe, without quite so many pictures.
July 17, 2020
Would highly recommend to anyone who’s interested in medical parasitology! Although theres no mention of Plasmodium in this book, which is strange considering its the most medically relevant one? Still loved it tho :D
October 19, 2025
There is a lot to learn about parasites and the methods and drugs for treatment and prevention. This book kept me interested and engaged. I like how the author included a history at the beginning of each chapter as well. He made it easy to get into and relate to on a historical standpoint.
April 25, 2018
Yuckily, I had firsthand experience with some of these parasites after reading this book. Very cool and helpful.
October 24, 2016
I love parasites. I find them fascinating. This relatively short book covers a bunch of the nastiest parasites to plague humanity, using jargon free language, but also giving good detail of the life-cycles of the organisms, and the consequences of the infestations. There are lots of good illustrations and pictures, which were especially fun to peruse while eating lunch at a sushi restaurant. I've seen a couple reviewers say they won't ever eat raw or rare meat anymore. But I'm on the opposite end of the spectrum. I actually made myself steak tartare for dinner one evening while reading this book. Maybe I'm tempting fate.
The plowshare part of the title of this book comes from the final section of each chapter in which the author discussed various ways in which people can potentially improve medicine by learning from the biology of these creatures. An interesting way to lighten the subject matter for those who need it.
The short of it is, if you enjoy reading about disease causing organisms, this book will fit the bill.
The plowshare part of the title of this book comes from the final section of each chapter in which the author discussed various ways in which people can potentially improve medicine by learning from the biology of these creatures. An interesting way to lighten the subject matter for those who need it.
The short of it is, if you enjoy reading about disease causing organisms, this book will fit the bill.
February 7, 2014
A fascinating look at the disgusting subject of parasites. I learned a lot of things I didn't know, and I am not ever going to eat raw meat. Maybe not even rare. Also interesting that in some ways parasites may help us maintain a certain balance, as his observation that where they have been wiped out, allergies and auto-immune diseases become more prevalent. I especially like his summation where he suggests "we first adopt a deeper, more respectful relationship with the natural world. We have to stop plowing over or cutting down entire ecosystems in favor or temporary monetary gains." Parasites are part of the natural world, an unpleasant and often dangerous part, that will not really go away. We need to find a way to live with that reality, while finding a way to protect our health.
July 20, 2017
An excellent, informative book, and the author is incredibly gifted, in that he can take a very technical subject and make it understandable for the general public. But not that general--you need a very good vocabulary, a good knowledge of biology, and an interest in the subject. If you like books such as "The Emperor of All Maladies," this book is a piece of cake. An icky piece, however.
July 25, 2013
What an awesome book that doesn't contain too much scientific jargon. I blasted through this book in a few days because it was such great read.
March 30, 2014
Witty, engaging, this is an easy to read account of the interactions between hosts (especially us) and intermediates and how this has affected society.
June 24, 2019
The content was interesting, but Despommier's not a very gifted writer.
November 23, 2014
Oh, one of the creepiest of topics - but a mix of interesting and disturbing in see-sawing waves between the two poles.
November 11, 2014
A fascinating read about a variety of parasites that (both positively and negatively) affect human lives. The writing is very concise and accessible to anyone interested in these creatures.
September 22, 2013
You'll never eat salmon based sushi again...
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews