An eye-opening perspective on biology, ecology, and medicine—well worth reading, even if the subject makes you squeamish.
Parasites, the stuff of many people’s nightmares, are a biologist’s dream—superbly adapted creatures that have evolved sophisticated strategies for living off their hosts.
Discover editor Zimmer (At the Water’s Edge, 1998) describes the parasites’ lifestyles in vivid detail. His subjects range in size from the protozoan Plasmodium (which can fit inside a human red blood cell) to tapeworms, which can grow 60 feet long. Living inside another creature’s body requires developing elaborate ways to dodge the immune system, from hiding in cysts to releasing tame viruses that decoy defenses from the actual threat. Some parasites can modify the behavior of their intermediate hosts, making them more vulnerable to the predators that are their final hosts: Toxoplasma, which passes from rats to cats, turns off a panic mechanism triggered by the smell of cat urine, so the rats no longer instinctively avoid their feline hunters. Many parasites sterilize their prey, diverting energy from reproductive activity to the creation of food for the parasite. Parasitologists believe that this sort of behavior, making some infected animals 30 times more likely to be eaten, has a profound effect on the balance of predator and prey species in the wild. But to most readers, the real meat of the book will be its description of the ways in which parasites affect the human race. The biggest surprise: rainforest Indians in Venezuela, commonly infested with intestinal parasites, are almost entirely free of asthma. Scientists speculate that, without parasites to repel, the immune system turns its attention to otherwise minor irritants such as dust mites and cat dander. As with so many other apparent advances, the cure for one disease may well be the cause of another.
An eye-opening perspective on biology, ecology, and medicine—well worth reading, even if the subject makes you squeamish.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-684-85638-7
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Free Press
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2000
An intriguing meditation on the nature of the universe and our attempts to understand it that should appeal to both...
Italian theoretical physicist Rovelli (General Relativity: The Most Beautiful of Theories, 2015, etc.) shares his thoughts on the broader scientific and philosophical implications of the great revolution that has taken place over the past century.
These seven lessons, which first appeared as articles in the Sunday supplement of the Italian newspaper Sole 24 Ore, are addressed to readers with little knowledge of physics. In less than 100 pages, the author, who teaches physics in both France and the United States, cogently covers the great accomplishments of the past and the open questions still baffling physicists today. In the first lesson, he focuses on Einstein's theory of general relativity. He describes Einstein's recognition that gravity "is not diffused through space [but] is that space itself" as "a stroke of pure genius." In the second lesson, Rovelli deals with the puzzling features of quantum physics that challenge our picture of reality. In the remaining sections, the author introduces the constant fluctuations of atoms, the granular nature of space, and more. "It is hardly surprising that there are more things in heaven and earth, dear reader, than have been dreamed of in our philosophy—or in our physics,” he writes. Rovelli also discusses the issues raised in loop quantum gravity, a theory that he co-developed. These issues lead to his extraordinary claim that the passage of time is not fundamental but rather derived from the granular nature of space. The author suggests that there have been two separate pathways throughout human history: mythology and the accumulation of knowledge through observation. He believes that scientists today share the same curiosity about nature exhibited by early man.
An intriguing meditation on the nature of the universe and our attempts to understand it that should appeal to both scientists and general readers.Pub Date: March 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-399-18441-3
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Riverhead
Review Posted Online: Dec. 7, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The Johnstown Flood was one of the greatest natural disasters of all time (actually manmade, since it was precipitated by a wealthy country club dam which had long been the source of justified misgivings). This then is a routine rundown of the catastrophe of May 31st, 1889, the biggest news story since Lincoln's murder in which thousands died. The most interesting incidental: a baby floated unharmed in its cradle for eighty miles.... Perhaps of local interest-but it lacks the Lord-ly touch.
Pub Date: March 18, 1968
ISBN: 0671207148
Page Count: 312
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1968
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