>
>I don't know about Lewontin, but I've read descriptions of
>elaborate water and sewage systems which existed in the ancient
>world. As far as I know, the savants and governors of the
>West did not adopt such things until the 19th century, somewhat
>late in the day.
>
>-- Gordon
>
The Romans had aqueducts, some of which still stand and are in use today--I've hiked a chunk of the one in Segovia, Spain. They were built by slave labor, of course. Roman sewage was primitive to say the least and Roman cities, including Rome, were periodically swept by epidemics. There's no question but that the big jump in life expectancies under modernization is due to public health--clean water and sewers. That takes you from 45 years or so (excluding the first five years, where the mortality rate is about 60%) to 55 or 57. The next jump upwards is due to the democracy, welfare state + unions--adequate nutrition due to higher wages and the kindf of political control that prevents drought from turning into famine gets you another 7-10 years. The remainder--5-10 years, in therich vcapitalist societies and Cuba--is due to vaccination and antiobiotics (mainly). This is all demographic boilerplate, you learn it in any decent class on modernization. jks
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