The Viral Storm: The Dawn of a New Pandemic Age Audiobook

" Not as good as Spillover, but still a quick, interesting read. My problem with this book was that he wasn't interested in telling any of the stories surrounding the viruses, or making the text more personal by telling anecdotes connected to traveling all over Asia and Africa doing research; it's a much more didactic text than spillover and subsequently drier and less interesting. One notable fact learned from this book is that humans are as closely related to chimps and bonobos as dogs are to wolves. "

" At first I thought this was too simple, too basic, but I came to appreciate what Wolfe was doing: writing both a primer that gets lay readers up-to-speed and a quasi-memoir in which he recounts some of his own research and pays his respects to his colleagues all over the world (I can see why he's popular in the scientific community and among science-writers/popularizers). To my knowledge there is still nothing out there that replaces Laurie Garrett's The Coming Plague and Betrayal of Trust on the topic of viruses and public health. "

" I thought there were some scary and interesting topics here. I guess one important point that was made is that in the past, information about spread of disease, etc. has been from government agencies around the world. Because of trade and travel and how fast diseases can currently spread, that is probably not going to be the most fast and efficient model for the future. "

" Plenty of good and interesting information, but written at too "general audience" level for me. He's definitely repetitive and self-promoting, but this does not take away (too much) from a fascinating subject. I did learn some pretty cool things that are being done to try and track the newly emerging viruses and pandemics. "

" I enjoyed this book and it really informed me on a lot of the contemporary issues and solutions; however, I found that he tended to be a bit repetitive, especially if you have educational background in epidemiology or virology. I would suggest this to people to read though! It's a great way to educate yourself and understand the differences in microbial life throughout the world, as well as the huge impact that these viruses and bacteria can have for us. "

" Very interesting, everyone should read to be aware of all the micro-drama going on around (or in) us everyday. I particularly appreciated his efforts to explain how viruses operate-the comparison to reading Eliot's "Wasteland" was inspired! "

" fascinating study of pandemics,how they start and how they progress. Well worth reading if you are a medical/science geek. "

" Nathan Wolfe does a fantastic job of making the the world of virology and infectious diseases accessible to the lay person. Because of this I found I skimmed over some explanations (I have a background in microbiology). However, I thoroughly enjoyed the book and the ideas raised therein. "

" An incredibly fascinating collection of information,pretty good science and better writing. "

" The author clearly is an expert. I'm not a scientist and found this book amazing. The first time I learnt about the viruses and how they work. Highly recommend. "

" Starts out with scary details about how viruses pass from animals to humans, but ends with heartening information about digital epidemiology, pandemic prediction, and other technological advances that give hope. "

" It provided good information (informative), but was hard to keep my interest. "

" well written and full of research. I liked Spillover better (the author of the book does quote Wolfe's work) due to its accessibility. "

" This book seemed more focused on singing the praises of the author and his organization than on actually discussing viruses and their potential consequences. "

" Lucid, engaging, easy to follow. Fascinating and well worth a read. "