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Breathless: The Scientific Race to Defeat a Deadly Virus
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Published:
Simon & Schuster 2022
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Description
National Book Award finalist Breathless tells the story of the worldwide scientific race to decipher the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, trace its source, and make possible the vaccines to fight the Covid-19 pandemic—a "luminous, passionate account of the defining crisis of our time" (The New York Times).
Breathless is a "gripping" (The Atlantic) but "clear-eyed analysis" (Time) of SARs-CoV-2 and its fierce journey through the human population, as seen by the scientists who study its origin, its ever-changing nature, and its capacity to kill us. David Quammen expertly shows how strange new viruses emerge from animals into humans as we disrupt wild ecosystems and how those viruses adapt to their human hosts, sometimes causing global catastrophe. He explains why this coronavirus will probably be a "forever virus," destined to circulate among humans and bedevil us endlessly, in one variant form or another. As scientists labor to catch it, comprehend it, and control it, with their high-tech tools and methods, the virus finds ways of escape.

Based on interviews with nearly one hundred scientists, including leading virologists in China and around the world, Quammen explains that:
-Infectious disease experts saw this pandemic coming
-Some scientists, for more than two decades, warned that "the next big one" would be caused by a changeable new virus—very possibly a coronavirus—but such warnings were ignored for political or economic reasons
-The precise origins of this virus may not be known for years, but some clues are compelling, and some suppositions can be dismissed
-And much more

Written by "one of our finest explainers of the natural world for decades" (Chicago Tribune), This "compelling and terrifying" (The New York Times) account is an unparalleled look inside the frantic international race to understand and control SARS-CoV-2—and what it might mean for the next potential global health crisis.
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Format:
Adobe EPUB eBook, Kindle Book, OverDrive Read
Street Date:
10/04/2022
Language:
English
ISBN:
9781982164386
ASIN:
B09Y7M81PN
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Citations
APA Citation (style guide)

David Quammen. (2022). Breathless: The Scientific Race to Defeat a Deadly Virus. Simon & Schuster.

Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation (style guide)

David Quammen. 2022. Breathless: The Scientific Race to Defeat a Deadly Virus. Simon & Schuster.

Chicago / Turabian - Humanities Citation (style guide)

David Quammen, Breathless: The Scientific Race to Defeat a Deadly Virus. Simon & Schuster, 2022.

MLA Citation (style guide)

David Quammen. Breathless: The Scientific Race to Defeat a Deadly Virus. Simon & Schuster, 2022.

Note! Citation formats are based on standards as of July 2022. Citations contain only title, author, edition, publisher, and year published. Citations should be used as a guideline and should be double checked for accuracy.
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Date Added:
Sep 30, 2022 12:13:47
Date Updated:
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      • bioText: David Quammen's books include Breathless, The Tangled Tree, The Song of the Dodo, The Reluctant Mr. Darwin, and Spillover. He has written for The New Yorker, Harper's Magazine, The Atlantic, National Geographic, and Outside, among other magazines, and is a three-time winner of the National Magazine Award. Quammen shares a home in Bozeman, Montana, with his wife, Betsy Gaines Quammen, author of American Zion, and with three Russian wolfhounds, a cross-eyed cat, and a rescue python. Visit him at DavidQuammen.com.
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title
Breathless
fullDescription
National Book Award finalist Breathless tells the story of the worldwide scientific race to decipher the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, trace its source, and make possible the vaccines to fight the Covid-19 pandemic—a "luminous, passionate account of the defining crisis of our time" (The New York Times).
Breathless is a "gripping" (The Atlantic) but "clear-eyed analysis" (Time) of SARs-CoV-2 and its fierce journey through the human population, as seen by the scientists who study its origin, its ever-changing nature, and its capacity to kill us. David Quammen expertly shows how strange new viruses emerge from animals into humans as we disrupt wild ecosystems and how those viruses adapt to their human hosts, sometimes causing global catastrophe. He explains why this coronavirus will probably be a "forever virus," destined to circulate among humans and bedevil us endlessly, in one variant form or another. As scientists labor to catch it, comprehend it, and control it, with their high-tech tools and methods, the virus finds ways of escape.

Based on interviews with nearly one hundred scientists, including leading virologists in China and around the world, Quammen explains that:
-Infectious disease experts saw this pandemic coming
-Some scientists, for more than two decades, warned that "the next big one" would be caused by a changeable new virus—very possibly a coronavirus—but such warnings were ignored for political or economic reasons
-The precise origins of this virus may not be known for years, but some clues are compelling, and some suppositions can be dismissed
-And much more

Written by "one of our finest explainers of the natural world for decades" (Chicago Tribune), This "compelling and terrifying" (The New York Times) account is an unparalleled look inside the frantic international race to understand and control SARS-CoV-2—and what it might mean for the next potential global health crisis.
reviews
      • premium: True
      • source: Library Journal
      • content:

        May 1, 2022

        Given how viruses have been leaping from animals to humans with ongoing ecosystem disruption, infectious disease experts have been predicting the current pandemic for two decades But their warnings were brushed aside for political or economic reasons, explains go-to science writer Quammen (Spillover), who drew on interviews with nearly 100 scientists worldwide for this chronicle.

        Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

      • premium: True
      • source: Publisher's Weekly
      • content:

        Starred review from August 1, 2022
        Science journalist Quammen (Spillover) recounts in page-turning detail the scientific response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Many scientists, the author writes, have seen a covid-like pandemic coming for years, thanks in part to the 2003 SARS outbreak that ended up being something of “a rehearsal,” though one that made “the significance of super-spreaders... painfully clear.” But SARS-CoV-2, aka the virus that causes Covid-19, is different in its makeup, and parts of its genome made “the virus more capable of infecting humans.” As well, Quammen breaks down how viruses jump from animals to humans, explains that “this virus is going to be with us forever” as it continues to adapt, and makes a convincing case that “we should stop thinking about the ‘origin’ of SARS-CoV-2, and proceed by thinking about its origins, plural.” Terms, such as RNA, “variant,” and “herd immunity” are accessibly explained, and the narrative is punctuated with vivid portraits of such scientists as Anthony Fauci; Zhengli Shi, a senior scientist at the Wuhan Institute of Virology; and molecular virologist Michael Worobey, who tracked the virus’s evolution. This is a must-read for anyone looking to get a better handle on the pandemic so far. Agent: Amanda Urban, ICM Partners.

      • premium: True
      • source: Kirkus
      • content:

        Starred review from August 1, 2022
        An authoritative new history of Covid-19 and its predecessors. Prolific, award-winning science writer Quammen bring his story up to 2022, as the pandemic enters its third year with no end in sight. Authors who begin with 2019 events in the Wuhan meat market are fated to end with an anticlimax, but Quammen, casting his net more widely, does not have this problem. In addition to a hair-raising account of the ongoing pandemic, the author delivers an insightful education on public health and an introduction to numerous deadly epidemics over the past 50 years. He also educates readers about the centurylong history of the coronavirus, which produced two nasty epidemics before the current one. Once known as a mundane cause of the common cold, the first "killer coronavirus" emerged from a Chinese food market in 2003, killing about 800 of 8,000 victims across the world before disappearing. SARS-CoV didn't spread until symptoms developed, so it was not difficult to identify cases, trace contacts, and set effective quarantine guidelines. This was also true of the MERS-CoV epidemic that began in 2012 and killed 76 of 178 people, mostly on the Arabian Peninsula. The current pandemic remains horrendously difficult to control because asymptomatic individuals can still spread the virus. Having delivered this bad news, Quammen chronicles his tours around the world (often via Zoom due to lockdowns), grilling a Greek chorus of nearly 100 scientists and health officials whose extensive biographies fill a 43-page appendix. Skirting the mostly dismal politics displayed by national leaders, the author constructs a masterful account of viral evolution culminating in Covid-19, which has displayed the dazzling ability to circumvent our natural and then technology-enhanced immune system. Perhaps the best news is that killing a host is irrelevant; viruses give priority to multiplying and spreading, so it's possible that Covid-19 will adapt to our adaptations and grow less virulent. One of the latest variants, Omicron, is a dramatic example. Unsettling global health news brilliantly delivered by an expert.

        COPYRIGHT(2022) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

      • premium: True
      • source: Booklist
      • content:

        Starred review from August 1, 2022
        Describing COVID-19 as ""a horrific sorrow to humanity,"" accomplished science writer Quammen (The Tangled Tree, 2018; Spillover, 2012) fashions a sort of biography of the virus and a masterful scientific detective story. He comprehends the biology and story of COVID-19 by looking ""over the shoulders of scientists"" and interviewing almost 100 around the globe. His discussion features zoonotic spillover (the transfer of a virus from an animal host to humans), RNA viruses (and their penchant for frequent mutations and rapid adaptation), herd immunity, and vaccine development. Quammen strives to elucidate the origin of COVID-19, a ""natural spillover from a wild animal"" (most likely), laboratory leak, or bioengineered virus (least probable). His writing can be chilling and ominous. Viruses ""are the dark angels of evolution, terrific and terrible."" The astonishing science depicted here, from bioinformatics to epidemiology and molecular biology, is formidable and sometimes head-spinning. Its passionate practitioners (who create clarity and order out of mystery and mayhem) truly are lab coat-wearing and biohazard-suited heroes. Quammen delivers a demanding and essential book about COVID-19, glumly asserting that the virus ""is going to be with us forever."" While this is not the happy ending we were hoping for, it's best to face facts.HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Highly respected Quammen's tale of the origins and ongoing reality of COVID-19 will be on many must-read lists.

        COPYRIGHT(2022) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

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National Book Award finalist Breathless tells the story of the worldwide scientific race to decipher the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, trace its source, and make possible the vaccines to fight the Covid-19 pandemic—a "luminous, passionate account of the defining crisis of our time" (The New York Times).
Breathless is a "gripping" (The Atlantic) but "clear-eyed analysis" (Time) of SARs-CoV-2 and its fierce journey through the human population, as seen by the scientists who study its origin, its ever-changing nature, and its capacity to kill us. David Quammen expertly shows how strange new viruses emerge from animals into humans as we disrupt wild ecosystems and how those viruses adapt to their human hosts, sometimes causing global catastrophe. He explains why this coronavirus will probably be a "forever virus," destined to circulate among humans and bedevil us endlessly, in one variant form or another. As scientists...
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The Scientific Race to Defeat a Deadly Virus
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Simon & Schuster
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