Quarantine
Quarantine has been on many of our minds lately. The phrases \u201cshelter in place\u201d and \u201cself-quarantine\u201d have filled up our news, social media, and conversations since the first inklings of the coronavirus pandemic. But this is far from the first time cities and countries have used the practice of physical separation to battle the spread of disease.\xa0\nYou might think of Mary Mallon, who many know as \u201cTyphoid Mary.\u201d In the early 1900s, she spent nearly 30 years\xa0 in a cottage on a small island in New York City\u2019s East River, all to prevent her from infecting others. But we\u2019ve been using quarantine for millennia\u2014well before we even understood germs existed and that they can be transmitted from person-to-person. And the origin of the word stretches all the way back to the mid-14th century, when Europe was swept by one of the biggest losses of human life in history: the Black Death.\nWant to stay up to speed with\xa0Science Diction?\xa0Sign up for our newsletter.\nGuest:\nAlexander More is a historian at Harvard University and Long Island University in Brooklyn, New York. Follow him on Twitter\xa0and Instagram.\nFootnotes And Further Reading:\xa0\nSpecial thanks to Alexander More, Judith Walzer Leavitt, and Karl Appuhn.\nIf you want to learn more about Mary Mallon, we recommend Judith\u2019s book, Typhoid Mary: Captive to the Public\u2019s Health. \nCredits:\nScience Diction is hosted and produced by Johanna Mayer. Our producer and editor is Elah Feder. We had additional story editing from Nathan Tobey, and fact checking help from Michelle Harris. Our composer is Daniel Peterschmidt. Charles Bergquist played the part of George Soper.