Are you looking for something to read while you are stuck inside? I have a few suggestions for science non-fiction that I definitely think you should check out.
BOOK 1: SPILLOVER
Spillover came out in 2012 and became a NY Times' best seller. Author David Quammen explains how infectious diseases (with a heavy emphasis on viruses) can hop from other species into human populations in very accessible prose. He explains how epidemiologists do their job and how we can learn from the history of other diseases (there's a fascinating bit about the development of HIV for example) to better cope with emerging ones. I read this book about 6 or 7 years ago and I could not put it down. In light of the emergence of SARS-coV2 (COVID-19), it's content is particularly timely.
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| Sample Text: Spillover |
If you are interested in the topic, but don't have time for the book consider watching this TED talk from virologist Nathan Wolfe:
The Jungle Search for Viruses.
BOOK 2: BAD SCIENCE
We've already begun to see a lot of questionable claims related to COVID-19, but misleading sciency sounding claims and "cures" are nothing new. Ben Goldacre is a physician epidemiologist from the UK. His book Bad Science is the result of the following he gained on his
blog with the same title. (Not every blog post made it into the book so you might want to check it out too.) Dr. Goldacre's basic premise is that there is a lot of junk science out there - either because of unintentional mistakes or outright skulduggery. He covers the gambit of shifty folks pushing pseudoscience to the media misreporting real data. The beauty of this book's format is that each chapter is really standalone so it's easy to pick up and put down if you are the kind who likes to be able to switch between multiple books.
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| Sample Text: Bad Science |
If you can't get a physical copy of these books through your library, local bookseller or Amazon, you can listen to them through
Audible or download it to your
Kindle or
Nook.
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