Alan L. Olmstead – författare

Long the standard source for quantitative indicators of American history, a new edition of Historical Statistics of the United States is something that reference librarians, historians, and social scientists have long awaited. Not since the Bicentennial Edition was published in 1975 has new data and material been available. Now in print and online for the first time, this thoroughly revised edition reflects thirty years of information and new scholarship, providing a comprehensive compendium of statistics from over 1,000 sources, recording every aspect of the history of the US. The electronic edition has been designed to give users a variety of means to search and navigate the vast amount of data available. Users will be able to graph individual tables or to combine data from different tables into 'custom tables' and to download tables for use in spreadsheets and other applications. Visit www.cambridge.org/historicalstats for further information and to discover more.

This book demonstrates that American agricultural development was far more dynamic than generally portrayed. In the two centuries before World War II, a stream of biological innovations revolutionized the crop and livestock sectors, increasing both land and labor productivity. Biological innovations were essential for the movement of agriculture onto new lands with more extreme climates, for maintaining production in the face of evolving threats from pests, and for the creation of the modern livestock sector. These innovations established the foundation for the subsequent Green and Genetic Revolutions. The book challenges the misconceptions that, before the advent of hybrid corn, American farmers single-mindedly invested in labor-saving mechanical technologies and that biological technologies were static.

Long the standard source for quantitative indicators of American history, a new edition of Historical Statistics of the United States is something that reference librarians, historians, and social scientists have long awaited. Not since the Bicentennial Edition was published in 1975 has new data and material been available. Utilizing information from the 2000 Census, this essential reference has been updated for the new millennium providing rich materials for both contemporary and historical researchers. This is a monumental work of collaborative scholarship providing a comprehensive compendium of statistics from over 1,000 sources recording every aspect of the history of the United States from population to prices; from voting patterns to Vietnam veterans; from energy to education; from abortions to zinc and everything in between. Over 80 scholars have contributed their efforts and expertise to select, assemble, and document the data, to write the introductory essays, and to analyze the material.

This book demonstrates that American agricultural development was far more dynamic than generally portrayed. In the two centuries before World War II, a stream of biological innovations revolutionized the crop and livestock sectors, increasing both land and labor productivity. Biological innovations were essential for the movement of agriculture onto new lands with more extreme climates, for maintaining production in the face of evolving threats from pests, and for the creation of the modern livestock sector. These innovations established the foundation for the subsequent Green and Genetic Revolutions. The book challenges the misconceptions that, before the advent of hybrid corn, American farmers single-mindedly invested in labor-saving mechanical technologies and that biological technologies were static.

Over sixty percent of all infectious human diseases, including tuberculosis, influenza, cholera, and hundreds more, are shared with other vertebrate animals. Arresting Contagion tells the story of how early efforts to combat livestock infections turned the United States from a disease-prone nation into a world leader in controlling communicable diseases. Alan Olmstead and Paul Rhode show that many innovations devised in the fight against animal diseases, ranging from border control and food inspection to drug regulations and the creation of federal research labs, provided the foundation for modern food safety programs and remain at the heart of U.S. public health policy.America’s first concerted effort to control livestock diseases dates to the founding of the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) in 1884. Because the BAI represented a milestone in federal regulation of commerce and industry, the agency encountered major jurisdictional and constitutional obstacles. Nevertheless, it proved effective in halting the spread of diseases, counting among its early breakthroughs the discovery of Salmonella and advances in the understanding of vector-borne diseases.By the 1940s, government policies had eliminated several major animal diseases, saving hundreds of thousands of lives and establishing a model for eradication that would be used around the world. Although scientific advances played a key role, government interventions did as well. Today, a dominant economic ideology frowns on government regulation of the economy, but the authors argue that in this case it was an essential force for good.