Spillover by David Quammen
David Quammen's Spillover is a fascinating and thrilling ride into the world of zoonoses - diseases that are transferred from animal to man. Quammen lays out the fundamentals in the first few chapters and to do so he uses interesting, albeit lesser known epidemics, and culminates with the one zoonosis that everyone should be familiar with - HIV. In the process, he explains the pathogenesis of viruses, the mathematical model that determines the severity of a zoonosis, and details the effort required to trace the origin of these epidemics (some of which he candidly admits are still unknowns) .
The writer has condensed information from scores of scientific papers, personally interviewed almost everybody who is anybody in the field of epidemiology, he has traveled with researchers on their expeditions to the field, visited laboratories were discoveries were made and has presented all of this very generously in an easy to digest, palatable format, without dumbing it down. The book is understandable and imminently readable - even for the uninitiated.
The writer's account of his many adventures with field researchers - from catching monkeys in Bangladesh to obtaining DNA samples from wild chimpanzees to capturing bats in China makes for an intriguing read. The book is written from the perspective of the scientists in search of answers, he not only explains the science but also the madness and frustrations behind the scenes. Readers who think science is boring - be ready to be proved wrong!.
Quammen's writing is generous , lucid, and peppered with humorous and insightful anecdotes. He uses complex, but apt adjectives that leave you smiling at his cleverness . There is continuity between the chapters and the book flows like a story. This book does not attempt to sensationalize or instill fear , the writer has realized that he does not need to do that - this is a thriller movie that does not require sound effects! The book leaves you with a sense of foreboding and a realization of how little we, the human species are aware and have control of.
The only negative for me was the few chapters in which the writer, in an attempt to fill in the gaps, imagines what could have happened. For me, this goes against the grain of the book and were the only few pages that I was tempted to skip.
My advice to readers - Please pick up this book! Even if you are not fond of non-fiction, the sheer volume of information that this book provides makes it a must read!
Quote - "
David Quammen's Spillover is a fascinating and thrilling ride into the world of zoonoses - diseases that are transferred from animal to man. Quammen lays out the fundamentals in the first few chapters and to do so he uses interesting, albeit lesser known epidemics, and culminates with the one zoonosis that everyone should be familiar with - HIV. In the process, he explains the pathogenesis of viruses, the mathematical model that determines the severity of a zoonosis, and details the effort required to trace the origin of these epidemics (some of which he candidly admits are still unknowns) .
The writer has condensed information from scores of scientific papers, personally interviewed almost everybody who is anybody in the field of epidemiology, he has traveled with researchers on their expeditions to the field, visited laboratories were discoveries were made and has presented all of this very generously in an easy to digest, palatable format, without dumbing it down. The book is understandable and imminently readable - even for the uninitiated.
The writer's account of his many adventures with field researchers - from catching monkeys in Bangladesh to obtaining DNA samples from wild chimpanzees to capturing bats in China makes for an intriguing read. The book is written from the perspective of the scientists in search of answers, he not only explains the science but also the madness and frustrations behind the scenes. Readers who think science is boring - be ready to be proved wrong!.
Quammen's writing is generous , lucid, and peppered with humorous and insightful anecdotes. He uses complex, but apt adjectives that leave you smiling at his cleverness . There is continuity between the chapters and the book flows like a story. This book does not attempt to sensationalize or instill fear , the writer has realized that he does not need to do that - this is a thriller movie that does not require sound effects! The book leaves you with a sense of foreboding and a realization of how little we, the human species are aware and have control of.
The only negative for me was the few chapters in which the writer, in an attempt to fill in the gaps, imagines what could have happened. For me, this goes against the grain of the book and were the only few pages that I was tempted to skip.
My advice to readers - Please pick up this book! Even if you are not fond of non-fiction, the sheer volume of information that this book provides makes it a must read!
Quote - "
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