Historically plagues are common. Some have killed as much as 30% of the population. We still sing the nursery rhyme "Ring A Ring of Roses" which describes the symptoms of The Black Death. Ironically pandemics were also the instruments of progress. The idea of hiring people for wages came about because of the shortages of labor during epidemics when landowners with their serfs and indentured workers dying, had to hire people from outside to get the crops in. No harvest meant starvation. So the plague provided the opportunity for ordinary people to break the bonds of serfdom, moonlight to another area and become freedmen with a salary. Nobody could do anything about it. And when whole communities were wiped out, land became cheap so an enterprising man with a bit of cash could become a landowner. The idea of upward social mobility was born out of the plague and fueled the idea of all men being equal. So next time your pay check slots into your bank account remember to thank the plague.

Calculus was born out of the plague. Isaac Newton, because of the plague raging in London, was forced into quarantine and it was in this sequestered state that he figured out the math. He only had a small supply of paper so had to write very small. So perhaps some good will emerge from the present crisis. Perhaps we will listen to our scientists especially when they provide the evidence that we are harming our environment by pouring carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Perhaps some people might understand the benefits of vaccinating their children against the measles. Since a pandemic can hit anyone regardless of background, perhaps we will make sure everybody has access to medical care.

Plagues brought out the best and the worst in people. Catapulting a body infected with the plague into a city resisting an army was a great way to bring about surrender. Priests who followed the Christian message of caring for their flocks died pretty quickly and the ones who fled didn't. The rich usually removed themselves from danger pretty quickly as they are planning to do now, though Boccaccio's great work The Decameron was written while he was quarantined. Pandemics can be instruments of change and though they can kill a lot of people, they are also reminders of our mortality and human vulnerability and might help us re-order some of our priorities. This present one might help force some of our political leaders to understand the benefits of telling us the truth.