Link of the day: How Mosquitoes Changed Everything
The article reviews the book The Mosquito: A Human History of Our Deadliest Predator. In it the author argues that mosquitoes were a defining factor in many of the world’s great historical developments: the rise and fall of the Greek and Roman empires, the colonization of the Americas and many more. Mosquitoes probably were one of the main factors that explain how the Spanish brought so much havoc to South America. With a cumulative death toll of hundreds of millions of people, mosquitoes are by far the deadliest predator humans have ever encountered. The article provides a fascinating overview about the role they have played in many major historical developments. Well worth a read!