Scurvy, Past and Present

In the age of sail, scurvy killed more sailors than combat or storms. Admiral Anson's 1740 expedition lost over 1,300 men, most to this disease. Hess, writing as medical science was just grasping the existence of vitamins, traces the long arc of this illness from devastating naval voyages to its surprising persistence in modern infants. The book weaves clinical observation with historical narrative, showing how the disease shaped exploration, warfare, and ultimately the birth of nutritional science. Hess was writing at a pivotal moment: the ancient curse of scurvy was finally being understood, yet it still appeared in wartime populations and among infants fed improper diets. His treatise captures that threshold between old wisdom and new science, between maritime tragedy and pediatric wards.