RETHINKINGAIDSFor decades, the spread of AIDS in America was attributed
to one man, Gaetan Dugas. Known as 'Patient Zero', he was
believed to spread the virus in the '70s. But new research
show such an act would have been impossible, and that
'Patient Zero' was a mislabel. The 'Zero' was actually an 'O',
designating his case as someone 'outside of California'.
MIASMATHEORY
Today, we know why we get sick: germs. Germ theory,however, is relatively new. For a long time, people believedillness was caused by Miasma, or "bad air". In crowdedcities, we didn't think twice about the poor sanitaryconditions or dirty water-- a spell of nasty air was to blame.
HUMORISM
No jokes here! Humorism was a field of science that heldthe imbalances four "humors"-- blood, yellow bile, black bile,and phlegm-- were responsible for illnesses and changes intemperament.