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4.42 AVERAGE
4.42 AVERAGE
dark
informative
mysterious
medium-paced
informative
slow-paced
What makes Spillover stand out is its meticulous research and the sheer breadth of information it offers. Quammen weaves together history, biology, and epidemiology to present a chilling picture of how interconnected humans and the natural world truly are. The stories of diseases like Ebola, SARS, and HIV are told with a narrative richness that makes them both fascinating and horrifying.
However, while the book excels in its depth, it occasionally stumbles in its accessibility. The technical discussions, though necessary for a full understanding of the subject, can feel dense and overwhelming to readers without a strong background in science. This isn't to say the book is impenetrable—it’s just that readers looking for a light overview might find themselves bogged down in complex details.
Despite this, Spillover is a compelling read that stays with you long after you’ve finished. It's a stark reminder of humanity's vulnerability and the delicate balance of our ecosystems. If you’re willing to wade through some of the more technical passages, you’ll be rewarded with a profound understanding of the mechanisms and consequences of zoonotic diseases.
However, while the book excels in its depth, it occasionally stumbles in its accessibility. The technical discussions, though necessary for a full understanding of the subject, can feel dense and overwhelming to readers without a strong background in science. This isn't to say the book is impenetrable—it’s just that readers looking for a light overview might find themselves bogged down in complex details.
Despite this, Spillover is a compelling read that stays with you long after you’ve finished. It's a stark reminder of humanity's vulnerability and the delicate balance of our ecosystems. If you’re willing to wade through some of the more technical passages, you’ll be rewarded with a profound understanding of the mechanisms and consequences of zoonotic diseases.
Fantastic, fascinating book! Another good one from David Quammen.
dark
informative
reflective
fast-paced
informative
This is a GREAT book... and terrifying. David Quammen is a superb author, writing about complex scientific topics but in a way that feels accessible, compelling, and still scientifically rigorous. I read this book in 2020 during the height of the COVID pandemic so it felt extra important to read. In it, he writes about zoonosis, specifically the transmission of diseases from animals to humans. I knew of some of these like AIDS, Ebola, SARS, malaria but I had never heard of some of the other scary ones like Hendra, Marburg, Nipah. One of my favorite books I read all year.
Wow...awesome book! Packed with lots of information about the major viruses that move from non-human animals to people, and written in an amusing tone so it doesn't get too dark. If I had read this in high school, I think my life would be very different today.
challenging
hopeful
informative
reflective
This book was hefty but honestly one of the best citizen written versions of infectious disease work that I’ve seen. This author explained things in my own field in a better way than I could. I really loved the diversity of organisms and diseases that he spoke about. It was told in a narrative way and I enjoyed most of it. There was a little freedom of thought around how HIV was spread that felt a little off topic (like guessing what the person did and their social interactions) but otherwise I was hooked
It took me a while to read this book, as it’s just such a wealth of information! I went through it slowly and with a mind to write down and remember what I could ahead of a masters degree and it was a great base and foundation for infectious diseases.
Such an informative book and covered a wide breadth of topics. From Hendra, NIPAH, Ebola, Q-fever, Psittacosis, Influenza, AIDS/SIV, Simian Foamy Virus, Herpesviruses to Malaria, Lymes and many more.
It covers all sorts of bacterial, viral and vector borne diseases and discusses them in such a way that makes this book perfect for first time readers. You don’t need to have read anything on this subject before and makes for effortless and entertaining reading with the authors fab writing style.
The storytelling is great, and follows the authors journey around the world, discovering sites of disease origin and interviewing eminent researchers from around the globe.
It’s split into chapters and broken down into sub sections which makes the reading easier and less daunting (despite the fact it has a fairly impressive page count). It is written before our current pandemic though and has a great chapter on speculating the ‘Next Big One’ in disease.
The book also discusses disease ecology and evolution, a human role in transmissions, infection and why they are on the rise. The book certainly delivered on discussing the topic it set out too and I thoroughly recommend if you find yourself interested in this topic!
Such an informative book and covered a wide breadth of topics. From Hendra, NIPAH, Ebola, Q-fever, Psittacosis, Influenza, AIDS/SIV, Simian Foamy Virus, Herpesviruses to Malaria, Lymes and many more.
It covers all sorts of bacterial, viral and vector borne diseases and discusses them in such a way that makes this book perfect for first time readers. You don’t need to have read anything on this subject before and makes for effortless and entertaining reading with the authors fab writing style.
The storytelling is great, and follows the authors journey around the world, discovering sites of disease origin and interviewing eminent researchers from around the globe.
It’s split into chapters and broken down into sub sections which makes the reading easier and less daunting (despite the fact it has a fairly impressive page count). It is written before our current pandemic though and has a great chapter on speculating the ‘Next Big One’ in disease.
The book also discusses disease ecology and evolution, a human role in transmissions, infection and why they are on the rise. The book certainly delivered on discussing the topic it set out too and I thoroughly recommend if you find yourself interested in this topic!
This book has some of the markers of a great popular science book but sections VII and IX have a few too many tangents as well as errors (grammatical, misgendering scientists, etc.) for it to get a recommendation from me. Honestly, I would recommend that readers read through section VII and not past it (in my opinion, not much would be lost and what is lost could easily be supplemented by another book that doesn't go down such strange paths).