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eBook
Count the Dead
2022
Overview
The global doubling of human life expectancy between 1850 and 1950
is arguably one of the most consequential developments in human
history, undergirding massive improvements in human life and
lifestyles. In 1850, Americans died at an average age of 30. Today,
the average is almost 80. This story is typically told as a series
of medical breakthroughs-Jenner and vaccination, Lister and
antisepsis, Snow and germ theory, Fleming and penicillin-but the
lion's share of the credit belongs to the men and women who
dedicated their lives to collecting good data. Examining the
development of death registration systems in the United States-from
the first mortality census in 1850 to the development of the death
certificate at the turn of the century- Count the Dead
argues that mortality data transformed life on Earth, proving
critical to the systemization of public health, casualty reporting,
and human rights. Stephen Berry shows how a network of coroners,
court officials, and state and federal authorities developed
methods to track and reveal patterns of dying. These officials
harnessed these records to turn the collective dead into informants
and in so doing allowed the dead to shape life and death as we know
it today.
Publisher
The University of North Carolina Press,University of North Carolina Press
Subject
ISBN
9781469667515, 1469667517, 9781469667522, 1469667525
