If I were to list all of my topics of interest, microbiology would rank pretty high. At this point in my life I might even put it first. I love learning about bacteria and viruses, how they have evolved over millenia (or stayed relatively unchanged), how they invade our cells and reproduce, etc. I am awed by the fact that every single species of life on Earth (including bacteria) have a virus or...
more If I were to list all of my topics of interest, microbiology would rank pretty high. At this point in my life I might even put it first. I love learning about bacteria and viruses, how they have evolved over millenia (or stayed relatively unchanged), how they invade our cells and reproduce, etc. I am awed by the fact that every single species of life on Earth (including bacteria) have a virus or viruses that specialize in making that particular species their host. Viruses are the oldest “life forms” on Earth (if you consider them alive, still very much a heated debate amongst scientists) and there is evidence that about 8% of our genes come from ancient viruses. When an ecosystem is disturbed in a remote habitat (especially a tropical one), as yet undiscovered viruses sometimes emerge and are discovered after wreaking havoc on a human population. Such was the case in Zaire in 1976 when one man (listed by his initials as G.M. and also known as “patient zero”) came into contact with a strain of Ebola so virulent that it ended up wiping out hundreds of people within days, including a third of the doctors in Zaire. This is one of the stories you will find in this book, and its the reason I got the book in the first place. I really enjoyed “The Hot Zone” Preston’s earlier book entirely devoted to the story of Ebola, and I guess I was expecting more of the same. Unfortunately, this is one of the only two stories that I really found interesting in this collection. The other concerns a rare genetic disorder called Lesch-Nyhan Syndrome. The (all male) sufferers of this disease are compelled to hurt themselves from a very young age. They bite off their own lips and fingers, or rip out their eyes…The author befriends two men with L-NS (at 50 one of them is the oldest known surviving since they die at a young age of kidney failure) There are 4 other stories. 2 of them are just so-so (like the story about an invasive species of insect that is destroying old growth forests in some Southern states. I appreciate the topic, and I teach kids about invasive species. But its just like any other story. A woman brought over some Japanese trees for her garden, the insects spread, the forests are dying, theres nothing we can do. the end. I summed it up right there with as much heart as the author himself.) There were two stories that were so long and drawn out (one about 2 brothers who built a super computer in their apartment for the sole purpose of calculating pi and the other about a race between a government agency and a private enterprise to figure out the genetic sequencing code for the human genome first) I actually had to give up on finishing them. Its like the author is smitten with these scientists. I understand he is in awe of them. But I really am not interested in the details of how they dress or speak or win yacht races. I want the science, not the scientists. This book overall was disappointing. The topics lacked cohesion. Just because I am interested in nature and science doesnt mean I am interested in computers (and vice versa for someone else). I can understand its a collection of different science articles this guy has written but it seems like he should have waited a few years and then had a big volume full of different topics instead of this little mess of a book.
hide
Yes (0) 
No (0) 
