The massive global impacts of COVID-19 made the issue of pandemics and epidemics a major concern among the public, politicians, doctors, and the scientific community. However, it is far from the first pandemic, and experts suggest that it almost certainly will not be the last. The articles in this volume consider past pandemics and epidemics to explain how certain diseases are able to spread on such a massive scale. They explain the medical advancements that have helped prevent some diseases from having the devastating impacts they did in the past while also considering why some infections are more difficult to control. Writers and experts also offer predictions on the types of pandemics and epidemics that may occur in the future and what can potentially be done to stop them.