Historical Explorations of Modern Epidemiology

This volume explores the history of epidemiology from the mid-twentieth century to the present. Epidemiology has exerted major influence on the way that both infectious and chronic diseases are conceptualized and controlled, and, more generally, on the way that people in modern societies think about health, behavior, longevity, and risk. This collection consists of a series of in-depth analyses of the roots, development, and impact of epidemiological research, illuminating the complex relationship between medical research and data on the one hand, and social and cultural factors on the other. The thematical and geographical scope of the book ranges from indigenous and participant perspectives to the visualization of pandemics, and from Circumpolar North to East Africa. The book identifies significant historical changes and the driving forces behind them, charting forms of science-society interaction that characterize modern epidemiology.

Chapter 1 and chapter 4 are available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

Heini Hakosalo is a Senior Research Fellow in the History of Sciences and Ideas at the University of Oulu, Finland. She specializes in the history of medicine and health and has published on the histories of brain sciences, medical education, tuberculosis, birth cohort studies, and the relationship between urban planning and epidemics. She is the co-editor of In Pursuit of Healthy Environments: Lessons from Historical Cases on the Environment-Health Nexus (2021).

Katariina Parhi works as a Post-doctoral Researcher at the Academy of Finland Centre of Excellence in the History of Experiences at Tampere University, Finland. Her publications deal with the history of psychiatry, social control, and cohort studies, and include two Finnish-language books on the history of psychopathy and history of drug treatment systems, respectively.

Annukka Sailo is a Post-doctoral Researcher in the History of Sciences and Ideas at the University of Oulu, Finland. She has studied the history of post-war social and behavioral sciences, focusing on US debates on territorial aggression, and is currently researching the connection between urban planning and epidemiology in history.