These are-the topics and the people-outliers. But you have to be willing to nerd out on the obscure. Even though some of the topics are dated, it’s a fascinating read, a reminder of how strange and interesting our world can be. He writes at the intersection of science, journalism and wonder.

And one about the rare Lesch-Nyhan syndrome, a genetic disorder that creates an uncontrollable desire to do self-harm, including eating one’s own fingers or lips.Īlthough the topics are sensational, Preston never sensationalizes. An essay about the restoration of an obscure set of 16 th Century tapestries. Another on Craig Venter’s quest to decode the human genome. There’s an essay on the woolly adelgid, the invasive species of aphid killing old-growth hemlocks across the eastern United States. In those 2.2 billion digits, there is nothing remarkable, meaning no pattern and no repetition. Holed up in their New York apartment, they built a computer to calculate pi to, as of the writing of the article, over 2.2 billion digits, giving well-funded corporations a run for their money. The other five essays, though less sensational, also deal with the borderlands of scientific knowledge and exploration. I highlighted the passages I found most terrifying, and it is the stuff of nightmares and zombie films. The introduction to this collection and one essay focus on Ebola.

Preston is best known for his best-selling nonfiction 1994 book The Hot Zone, about the Ebola and Marburg viruses, two mysterious and especially nasty diseases that cause massive hemorrhaging. Then there was the COVID-19 pandemic, and all of a sudden it seemed acutely relevant. It’s one of those books I assumed I’d eventually get to, but just didn’t seem urgent. Buy Panic In Level 4: Cannibals, Killer Viruses, And Other Journeys To The Edge Of Science book by Richard Preston online at best cheap prices in India on.

This book was recommended to me years ago by my piano teacher, and it has been on my shelf for a decade.

Panic in Level 4 by Richard Preston