From the Bookshelf of Bio-Nerds…

The Hot Zone: The Terrifying True Story of the Origins of the Ebola Virus

Richard Preston

Start date: September 23, 2015

Finish date: December 21, 2015

Discussion: Group Reads

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last updated Sep 07, 2015 04:49AM

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What Members Thought

Mar 28, 2020 Ankit Goyal rated it it was amazing

Shelves: science, nonfiction, science-history, wildlife, sci-enq-gr, life-science, nat-sci-gr

Richard Preston's Hot Zone is a chilling reality check of the ephemerelity of our modernistic assumptions about life and the planet , based on an almost hubristic attitude about the infallibility of science and technology .

It strips us naked , right in front of one of the gravest danger that lurks around us , invisible, unnoticed dormant , but only so until it wakes up to erupt into a fire spitting volcano . Biohazard is one of the biggest threats that humanity in particular , and the planet in Richard Preston's Hot Zone is a chilling reality check of the ephemerelity of our modernistic assumptions about life and the planet , based on an almost hubristic attitude about the infallibility of science and technology .

It strips us naked , right in front of one of the gravest danger that lurks around us , invisible, unnoticed dormant , but only so until it wakes up to erupt into a fire spitting volcano . Biohazard is one of the biggest threats that humanity in particular , and the planet in general face .

The narrative traces through the known history of the Marburg and Ebola viruses , to the buildup of their worst breakouts , through the gravest danger of mass amplification , finally culminating in an unexpected turn which saw the threat fizzle out just when it seemed to be all set to cause disaster --- a sort of wry "MonaLisa Smile ", as the author puts it -- the virus retreating it's ugly head in as mysterious a fashion as it had first raised it .

The narrative is fast paced and action packed , filled with detailed scenic descriptions and uses ample linguistic appeal to drive emotion into the story . The technical and scientific details are fine tuned and deep , and the author shares a handful of first hand thoughts of the major characters who led the fight against these viruses . We are led into the world if pathology experts , virologists and biohazard specialists , and it's a revelation to see the lives of these little known unsung heroes at such close quarters . --- one of the experts finds staring at the virus through a microscope lens akin to staring into the dark eyes of a hissing cobra , head raised and tongue lashing ferociously .

Toward the end , the author looks back at the whole series of events , in an almost philsophical manner , brooding about man and his role in the larger scheme of things -- to him perhaps , this is nature's way of immunising itself against the most dominant primate species on the planet . Also the virus, the oldest life form on Earth , is for the author , like a rat which knows how to jump ship to evade the water -- continuing its existence for over 4.5 billion years jumping hosts when more evolved life forms have fallen by the way side !! ...more

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Aug 10, 2013 Bill rated it did not like it

Shelves: biology

I read this poorly written and sensationalistic tripe when it first came out and somewhat enjoyed it, even though I had my suspicions then about Preston's over-the-top account of human bodies turning into blood-filled water balloons and 90 percent of the human species dying suddenly in such a fashion

I tried to read this again and I couldn't get past the first third of the book. The writing is atrocious and the "true" account is irresponsible. Preston's approach to writing and science is reminisc ...more

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Nov 28, 2020 Cory rated it it was amazing

Shelves: non-fiction

The scariest book I have ever read, on a global crisis that we just barely avoided. Certainly we have learned a bit more about Ebola and related viruses since, but there are important lesson for today on the importance of taking courses of action which are based on putting safety and potential risk as the highest of priorities.

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