Virus That Ate Cannibals: Six Great Medical Detective Stories

by Carol Eron

Looks at viral diseases, such as smallpox, influenza, polio, rabies, yellow fever, and measles, and the efforts of scientists to understand and protect against them

Genres: Nonfiction, Science

Hardcover

Published January 1, 1981

Reviews

[Joan Fung-Tomc · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book 40 yrs ago when I was just starting my career as a microbiologist and was inspired by it. I just re-read it and still find it inspiring. I recommend that any parent/relative who want to inspire their child for STEM, to have them read this book.

[J. Carlo Cuevas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Este libro integra la historia médica de seis casos médicos. El título se deriva se uno de ellos. Me cambió mi perspectiva de los virus. Las primeras 4 historias de virus me han fascinado.

[Mitchell · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was recommended by my virology professor, and I thought that there was no better time to read it than while taking virology. Composed of several vignettes about the discovery and possible treatments for several viruses, this book is a great view of the past efforts in microbiology. What is rather amazing is that so much was done in a time before PCR made a lot of this stuff SO much easier. I would recommend reading this with Wikipedia close at hand, because it is true that a lot of the data and assumptions made about these viruses have since been clarified or proven false altogether. However, the best story was of the discovery of Reverse Transcriptase (which led to a lot of assays that labs use all the time) by David Baltimore. His quote about trying to use the simplest assay possible to test hypotheses is extremely applicable nowadays with our methods becoming more advanced all the time while we, as students, start to forget or never even learn some of the basic principles underlining all the tests we run. The book is, I believe, extremely accessible to non-scientists, to the point that I wished she would go into a little more scientific detail that would describe things in terms I'm used to. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in viruses and the history of virology.

[Anna Engel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Part medical mystery, part pop science, part history, "The Virus that Ate Cannibals" is an interesting look at six viruses that have affected human health and history. For the most part, the chapters are compelling (there is one that's too science-y). The book was published in the early 1980s, so HIV/AIDS isn't included.

The book is science-y enough for science people, but accessible to non-science-types, too.