Rat / Jonathan Burt.
- Burt, Jonathan.
- Date:
- 2006
- Books
About this work
Description
"Rat traces the history of the rat-human relationship from the first archaeological finds to the genetically engineered rat of today, describing its role in the arts and sciences, religion and myth, folklore and society, medicine and psychoanalysis. The rat is to be found at the heart of human preoccupations with hygiene, intelligence, sexuality and appetite, and exists as a perverse totem for the worst excesses of human behaviour. This highly adaptable, fertile and intelligent creature is almost universally loathed, yet there are cultures in which it is revered, even deified. In Rat, Jonathan Burt provides a fascinating account of this animal in history, myth and culture."--BOOK JACKET.
Publication/Creation
London : Reaktion Books, 2006.
Physical description
189 pages : illustrations (some color), portraits, facsimiles ; 19 cm.
Contributors
Bibliographic information
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Includes web resources (p. 182).
Contents
Introduction -- Natural history -- Natural historians and the rat -- Rat representations -- The 'hero of science' -- Plague and pollution -- Pets, vermin, food -- Timeline -- Appendix: a legend of the Inquisition.
Type/Technique
Languages
Where to find it
Location Status Access Closed storesM14911
Permanent link
Identifiers
ISBN
- 1861892241
- 9781861892249