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4.42 AVERAGE
4.42 AVERAGE
This is a brilliant discussion of virus spillover. If you want to understand how/why a pandemic happens, do read this. Quammen is an amazing science writer, with a gift for storytelling, for describing complex material in accessible ways, for crafting narrative tension in scientific discovery. Highly recommend!
In full honesty, I didn’t actually finish this book but it had to be turned in yesterday so what’s a girl to do! I couldn’t really give it a rating because while I did enjoy it, at the end of the day, it was a book about diseases that I was forced to read for class.
Who knew human pandemics - ebola, hendra, Q Fever, psitticosis, SARS, H1N1 - could be so fascinating.
dark
informative
slow-paced
Interesting hunt around the world for the origins of many diseases you've heard of and probably some you had no idea existed.
It makes me thankful that there are people out there passionate to study disease outbreaks in the fields. Researchers in the field and those in the lab are willing to put their lives at risk to study these for the greater good of all of us.
Also great on the topic of the environment and mankind's effect on many species.
It makes me thankful that there are people out there passionate to study disease outbreaks in the fields. Researchers in the field and those in the lab are willing to put their lives at risk to study these for the greater good of all of us.
Also great on the topic of the environment and mankind's effect on many species.
This book is not for the faint of heart. But it’s such a great book. Quammen expanded on diseases I’ve learned about several times into things I’ve never heard of before. Honestly I learned a lot. It’s even fun to read as he explores Asian wild markets and deep jungles. The only truly odd part was when he pretty much makes up a story about the origins of AIDS in humans that was just a hypothetical. I get why people would want that but like, we have no idea if it actually happened. Also I wish he talked more about flu. But that’s just me getting into the nitty gritty. Still a 5/5 and I could totally see this as an intro to zoonotics book.
I see why Quammen is so well thought of. Spillover was amazingly informative, had a near perfect execution, explained very difficult, scientific subjects in a manner that a reader with little science background could understand without making it so dumbed down that the same reader found themselves lost in a nexus of weakening metaphors and feeling insulted (I'm looking at you, Winchester). This is how you speak to your audience! You do not dumbdown, but rather heighten the discourse and inform. I learned so much, and was so in awe of what I was learning, and the research that was done by Quammen, and even more by the researching actively trying to save us from the "Next Big One" that nightly over dinner I'd tell my husband excitedly that he just HAD to read Spillover, because did you know this or that about ebola? Its the only audiobook that I have honestly considered restarting immediately. There is just so much to process here, so much that I realize I just didn't know, and so much more that I could learn from a second reading.
This is a book that I think every person should read. There is as much (if not more) human interest as science, it can honestly keep you on the edge of your seat. I love nature, but it can be such a scary place without considering that maybe you just inhaled infected bat shit or dust from an aborted goat. But its also a beautiful place, where ecology matters, where there is balance, and as the eruption of human population continues (presumably unchecked for now) that balance is disturbed. I cannot stress enough, especially during this election cycle, how important an informed populace is. How can we make decisions in domestic protection, how we raise our livestock, how we tour, how we travel across the globe, how we transport EVERYTHING, how we mine, and how we manufacture if we are not informed of the consequences and the possible dangers of what we are doing. I'm not crazy, I'm not saying lets halt the world, but we need to understand that its not just about global warming, when ecologists are warning us of what we are doing to the planet. We have rapidly interconnected this world in a way that has never before happened. There are risks and benefits to that. Scientists are trying to study and prepare for the next big one, but should the unthinkable happen (its not unthinkable, its more that we refuse to think of it) how are we, as a populace, prepared to respond? We need to consider this.
And, man, wash your hands if you butcher something, okay?
This is a book that I think every person should read. There is as much (if not more) human interest as science, it can honestly keep you on the edge of your seat. I love nature, but it can be such a scary place without considering that maybe you just inhaled infected bat shit or dust from an aborted goat. But its also a beautiful place, where ecology matters, where there is balance, and as the eruption of human population continues (presumably unchecked for now) that balance is disturbed. I cannot stress enough, especially during this election cycle, how important an informed populace is. How can we make decisions in domestic protection, how we raise our livestock, how we tour, how we travel across the globe, how we transport EVERYTHING, how we mine, and how we manufacture if we are not informed of the consequences and the possible dangers of what we are doing. I'm not crazy, I'm not saying lets halt the world, but we need to understand that its not just about global warming, when ecologists are warning us of what we are doing to the planet. We have rapidly interconnected this world in a way that has never before happened. There are risks and benefits to that. Scientists are trying to study and prepare for the next big one, but should the unthinkable happen (its not unthinkable, its more that we refuse to think of it) how are we, as a populace, prepared to respond? We need to consider this.
And, man, wash your hands if you butcher something, okay?
informative
reflective
slow-paced
informative