“We are a relatively young kind of primate, we humans, and therefore our disease are young too. We…”
“We are a relatively young kind of primate, we humans, and therefore our disease are young too. We have borrowed our troubles from other creatures. Some of those infections, such as Hendra and Ebola, visit us only occasionally and, when it happens, arrive soon at dead ends. Others do as the influenzas and the HIVs have done- take hold, spread from person to person, and achieve fast, far-flung, enduring success within the universe of habitat that is us.”
– Spillover, David Quammen (via etirabys)
I enjoyed this book a lot. Quammen has this thing he does where he takes a complex idea and presents it both faithfully and accessibly. And then, while he’s doing that, and you’re learning all this really interesting stuff, he slips in a really lovely piece of writing that conveys his (and your) shared humanity in a way I really treasure.
So yes, would recommend. (And then read Song of the Dodo. Because reasons.)
Reposted from http://lies.tumblr.com/post/67539280811.
Tags: david quammen.
