jbaltsar's review against another edition
5.0
Ein hervorragendes Beispiel für guten Wissenschaftsjournalismus! Umfassend in der Recherche, präzise aber sehr gut verständlich geschrieben. Und mit dem Maß an trockenem Humor, der einen unweigerlich für das Buch einnimmt, und der leider in deutschen Autoren und Wissenschaftlern so selten ist.
Das Buch ist von 2012 und der Autor spekuliert verschiedentlich über "The Next Big One". Ein guter Kandidat: ein Coronavirus! Und nun sitze ich zu Hause, praktiziere social distancing und draußen passiert genau dieser "Big One". Spooky!
Das Buch ist von 2012 und der Autor spekuliert verschiedentlich über "The Next Big One". Ein guter Kandidat: ein Coronavirus! Und nun sitze ich zu Hause, praktiziere social distancing und draußen passiert genau dieser "Big One". Spooky!
thetrickyfox's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
The book that originally inspired me to become a vet and work with zoonotic diseases. Holds up just as well nearly 10 years later.
jpierso2's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
informative
medium-paced
4.0
Writing 4/5
Premise 4.5/5
Exceptional book really. As dry as I thought it would be it was fascinating and really well written. The globe spanning journey was incredibly informative and terrifying.
Premise 4.5/5
Exceptional book really. As dry as I thought it would be it was fascinating and really well written. The globe spanning journey was incredibly informative and terrifying.
charlibirb's review against another edition
4.0
Starts off really slow with all the intro stuff: definitions etc, but then it gets really good when it gets to the stories. It's easier for me to digest all that info when it's included in a story.
It's a long one!
Yikes. Semi-regret reading this, but overall, glad I did. (Too much info...)
He basically predicted the Covid-19 pandemic...
It's a long one!
Yikes. Semi-regret reading this, but overall, glad I did. (Too much info...)
He basically predicted the Covid-19 pandemic...
kateormerod's review against another edition
challenging
dark
funny
informative
slow-paced
4.0
Love his writing style. Super interesting. Just hard to follow sometimes because timelines jump around. The first half especially was hard to read because of the bad choices that people are making.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, Terminal illness, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Colonisation
liorlueg's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
4.5
skylar2's review against another edition
4.0
This was a good book on the history of zoonotic diseases, especially in light of current events. The author discusses outbreaks that I had heard of (HIV, SARS1, Ebola, malaria) and others I had not heard of (Hendra virus, Q fever). Even in the familiar cases, Quammen gave context and history that I didn't have before, and at no point did it feel digressive. Given all that we're learning of SARS-CoV-2, the book didn't feel dated but like the next chapter could be written about 2020 (at the end, there's even a discussion of the role of super-spreading in disease mechanics).
The only thing marring it was the author's occasionally dismissive tone to the cultures in which the zoonoses were occurring. I think his intent was to be amusing, but fell flat.
The only thing marring it was the author's occasionally dismissive tone to the cultures in which the zoonoses were occurring. I think his intent was to be amusing, but fell flat.