Carol Laderman

Malaria and progress: some historical and ecological considerations.

Abstract Malaria must co-occur with a constellation of biological, demographic, ecological and cultural conditions before it can become hyperendemic. It then becomes a powerful agent for natural selection, favoring higher frequencies of formerly rare deleterious genes which, however, confer protection against the disease. Written materials from antiquity concerning trade routes, accounts of changes in agricultural methods or other changes in the ecology, references to diseases, and other pertinent material, used in conjunction with studies of abnormal hemoglobin frequencies, can be used to arrive at an understanding of the interaction of culture, environment and biology in the Mediterranean and Near East.

Wives and Midwives: Childbirth and Nutrition in Rural Malaysia.

In this widely-praised study, Carol Laderman provides a vivid picture of the daily life of rural Malays as she focuses on their dietary practices and the ritual and medical aspects of childbirth procedures. Apprenticed to a village midwife and a local shaman, she was able to observe a traditional culture adapting to modern practices.