I've just finished reading this splendid 100-page specimen of
science writing from the US academic Carl Zimmer, who writes
regularly in the New York Times and Scientific American. Not so
long ago, I would never have imagined myself buying a book on
viruses, or even being capable of reading such a book, since
I've never done any formal studies in biology, let alone human
viral pathologies. But this subject has been constantly in the
news for many years, and I consider it worthwhile to make an
effort to understand what it's all about. In any case, Zimmer's
immense talents as a writer (he lectures on science writing at
Yale) enable the layman to read his fascinating virus tales as
if they were stories in a popular magazine. So, I strongly
recommend this little book to people who are interested in
topics such as infamous everyday viruses (common cold,
influenza), horrors from history (smallpox), current challenges
(HIV, West Nile virus, Ebola) and the astonishing case of
bacteria-eating viruses (phages). One of t