An editorial reflection on early epidemiology textbooks highlights Major Greenwood's 1935 publication as a foundational text for both public health professionals and the general public.
In a recent issue of this Journal, two new epidemiology textbooks were reviewed (1, 2).According to Barrett-Connor, the reviewer of the second book, more than 50 introductory texts on the subject are now in print.This set me to thinking about the first such volume.To my knowledge, it is Major Greenwood's classic, Epidemics and Crowd-Diseases: An Introduction to the Study of Epidemiology (3), which was published in 1935.Incidentally, Major was not a military title but rather a traditional given name in Greenwood's family.According to Greenwood, the book was based on his lectures to professional students at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), but Greenwood was writing for a wider audience.As he put it, "I have tried to cater for a wider circle of readers than present or future members of the public health services, viz.all educated men and women interested in the communal aspects of health and disease" (3, p. 9).It is noteworthy that, in the preface, Greenwood acknowledges helpful criticism from his LSHTM colleague, Bradford Hill
Thomas A. Glass (Tue,) conducted a editorial in Coronary Heart Disease. An editorial reflection on early epidemiology textbooks highlights Major Greenwood's 1935 publication as a foundational text for both public health professionals and the general public.