Abstract
Arno Karlen has here gathered an entertaining series of essays on what he calls biohistory, ie, the intersection of biologic and social processes among human beings. The first three chapters are devoted to posthumous diagnoses of the ills afflicting three famous men: Napoleon, Goya, and Poe. The next two deal with diagnoses of ancient populations based on analysis of mummies and of bones. The next chapters treat of historical epidemics, lead poisoning, and the biological side effects of the contraceptive pill. A final chapter surveys other possible lines of biohistorical research. The author is well informed in matters biologic and medical so far as I can tell, but he is not as well informed historically. He remarks, example (p 152), that Mediterranean lands lagged behind northern Europe in population and culture for centuries after Justinian's plague of the sixth century AD, whereas by almost every criterion one can apply
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