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Air-Borne: The Hidden History of the Life We Breathe
The fascinating, untold story of the air we breathe, the hidden life it contains, and the invisible dangers that can turn the world upside down
Every day we draw in two thousand gallons of air—and thousands of living things. From the ground to the stratosphere, the air teems with invisible life. This last great biological frontier remains so mysterious that it took more than two years for scientists to agree that an airborne virus caused the COVID-19 pandemic.
In Air-Borne Carl Zimmer takes us on an odyssey through the living atmosphere while sharing the history of its discovery. We travel to the tops of mountain glaciers, where Louis Pasteur caught germs from the air; and follow Amelia Earhart and Charles Lindbergh above the clouds, where they conducted groundbreaking experiments. We meet the long-forgotten pioneers of aerobiology, including William and Mildred Wells, who tried for decades to warn the world about airborne infections only to die in obscurity.
Air-Borne chronicles the dark side of aerobiology, with gripping accounts of how the United States and the Soviet Union clandestinely built arsenals of airborne biological weapons designed to spread anthrax, smallpox, and an array of other pathogens. Air-Borne also leaves readers looking at the world with new eyes—as a place where the oceans and forests loft trillions of cells into the air, where microbes eat clouds, and where life soars thousands of miles on the wind. Weaving together gripping history with the latest reporting on the COVID-19 pandemic and other threats to global health, Air-Borne surprises on every page as it reveals the hidden world of the air.
Every day we draw in two thousand gallons of air—and thousands of living things. From the ground to the stratosphere, the air teems with invisible life. This last great biological frontier remains so mysterious that it took more than two years for scientists to agree that an airborne virus caused the COVID-19 pandemic.
In Air-Borne Carl Zimmer takes us on an odyssey through the living atmosphere while sharing the history of its discovery. We travel to the tops of mountain glaciers, where Louis Pasteur caught germs from the air; and follow Amelia Earhart and Charles Lindbergh above the clouds, where they conducted groundbreaking experiments. We meet the long-forgotten pioneers of aerobiology, including William and Mildred Wells, who tried for decades to warn the world about airborne infections only to die in obscurity.
Air-Borne chronicles the dark side of aerobiology, with gripping accounts of how the United States and the Soviet Union clandestinely built arsenals of airborne biological weapons designed to spread anthrax, smallpox, and an array of other pathogens. Air-Borne also leaves readers looking at the world with new eyes—as a place where the oceans and forests loft trillions of cells into the air, where microbes eat clouds, and where life soars thousands of miles on the wind. Weaving together gripping history with the latest reporting on the COVID-19 pandemic and other threats to global health, Air-Borne surprises on every page as it reveals the hidden world of the air.
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First published February 25, 2025
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About the author
Carl Zimmer
52 books1,696 followersCarl Zimmer is a columnist for the New York Times and the author of 15 books about science. His latest book is Air-Borne: The Hidden History of the Life We Breathe. Visit him at carlzimmer.com.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 116 reviews
June 19, 2025
Long book full of great info. Learned a lot. Appreciated the history going back the centuries to help us understand how we got to COVID and today. While we learned a lot throughout history, and though it was through so many years, nonetheless, we still know so little. I also really liked the pre-COVID US history in health policy/politics. I did not know about any of that, and it made it all so much more interesting. Was half expecting the author to reference the "drink bleach" instructions by TACOman, but that would've been too much sad comedy for such a serious book. In light of the history presented, part of why we still have so much to learn seems to be that we are bad at learning from the past.
Today, I spent the day in Delhi, which is significantly more crowded than the city I live in now. I was getting a tour of a hospital (I'd finished this book on the ride there). The hospital was overcrowded because it's a charitable hospital for the indigent (higher demand than available facilities). The whole time, I wanted to hold my breath. No one was masking, and it felt rude to be the only to mask. So I chanced it. The VP was doing me a favor, and he was proud of his facility. I was impressed with the large diversity of services. Still, I could only think about the book!!!!! The hospital itself was as sterile as any other, but the number of people in the enclosed space made me uncomfortable. Plus, Delhi, in general, is a very populated city, which means far more pollution than I'm used to. However, I'm going to assume that I am good and healthy and try to remember the really nice people who showed me a lot of unnecessary and highly appreciated hospitality.
Today, I spent the day in Delhi, which is significantly more crowded than the city I live in now. I was getting a tour of a hospital (I'd finished this book on the ride there). The hospital was overcrowded because it's a charitable hospital for the indigent (higher demand than available facilities). The whole time, I wanted to hold my breath. No one was masking, and it felt rude to be the only to mask. So I chanced it. The VP was doing me a favor, and he was proud of his facility. I was impressed with the large diversity of services. Still, I could only think about the book!!!!! The hospital itself was as sterile as any other, but the number of people in the enclosed space made me uncomfortable. Plus, Delhi, in general, is a very populated city, which means far more pollution than I'm used to. However, I'm going to assume that I am good and healthy and try to remember the really nice people who showed me a lot of unnecessary and highly appreciated hospitality.
June 18, 2025
You live in an aerobiome
This is a seriously well researched and amazing book that will take you from Louis Pastuer, to miasmas, TB, bacterial clouds and up into today. You will get a full review of the study of how pathogens travel through the air from its infancy and how it still affects the uncertain science of it today. The author takes you through the obscure and key players who helped develop the theory that not only is the air full of bacteria and fungus, but they travel enormous distances across the globe. Clouds and rain are literally bursting with microbial life.
A huge thread in this book is saliva droplet nuclei, how far they can go and how well they can carry pathogens. The conventional wisdom is that five micrometers droplets can remain in the air a long time and be a vector for pathogens, making them airborne. During COVID, the WHO and the CDC thought that COVID could only travel on large droplets that immediately fell to the ground, hence all the 6 feet distance. Turns out that tons of people were getting infected at much larger distances in super spreader events. These organizations likely wanted to avoid the airborne panic to help conserve n95 masks for healthcare professionals. But it turns out this 5 micron guideline was built on mis-representing the work of aerobiologists in the 1930s, William and Mildred Wells in the 1930s.
The Wells performed many experiments but one notable one was where they exposed Guinea Pigs to 5 micron droplets of TB. These animals got sick while animals exposed to UV treated light, which killed TB, did not. The Wells weren’t really respected during their time but this 5 micron threshold somehow stayed in the lexicon and became a stand-in for the limit of size for an airborne droplet vector. Only the Wells figured out that the threshold was probably around 100 microns. So this incorrect conclusion became gospel in medicine all the way up until the COVID pandemic. The reality is that COVID is very likely airborne, can travel long distances on droplet larger than 5 microns, and the medical community really kind of messed that up. This is only one of many fantastic stories you can find in this wonderful book.
This is a seriously well researched and amazing book that will take you from Louis Pastuer, to miasmas, TB, bacterial clouds and up into today. You will get a full review of the study of how pathogens travel through the air from its infancy and how it still affects the uncertain science of it today. The author takes you through the obscure and key players who helped develop the theory that not only is the air full of bacteria and fungus, but they travel enormous distances across the globe. Clouds and rain are literally bursting with microbial life.
A huge thread in this book is saliva droplet nuclei, how far they can go and how well they can carry pathogens. The conventional wisdom is that five micrometers droplets can remain in the air a long time and be a vector for pathogens, making them airborne. During COVID, the WHO and the CDC thought that COVID could only travel on large droplets that immediately fell to the ground, hence all the 6 feet distance. Turns out that tons of people were getting infected at much larger distances in super spreader events. These organizations likely wanted to avoid the airborne panic to help conserve n95 masks for healthcare professionals. But it turns out this 5 micron guideline was built on mis-representing the work of aerobiologists in the 1930s, William and Mildred Wells in the 1930s.
The Wells performed many experiments but one notable one was where they exposed Guinea Pigs to 5 micron droplets of TB. These animals got sick while animals exposed to UV treated light, which killed TB, did not. The Wells weren’t really respected during their time but this 5 micron threshold somehow stayed in the lexicon and became a stand-in for the limit of size for an airborne droplet vector. Only the Wells figured out that the threshold was probably around 100 microns. So this incorrect conclusion became gospel in medicine all the way up until the COVID pandemic. The reality is that COVID is very likely airborne, can travel long distances on droplet larger than 5 microns, and the medical community really kind of messed that up. This is only one of many fantastic stories you can find in this wonderful book.
September 9, 2025
Air-Borne is the account of the history of aerobiology, from the studying by Louis Pasteur collecting airborne germs on a glacier to the world’s multiyear battle against COVID-19.
Air-Borne is fascinating and is especially accessible to people with minimal scientific background knowledge (such as myself). Zimmer describes how our air is full of microorganisms including throughout the different levels of the atmosphere and details the discovery of airborne microorganisms and the steps of medical history that led to their discovery.
Air-Borne also explores the history of creating biological weapons and there use; from the race between the US and USSR during the Cold War to stock up our arsenals, to the Iraq war and anthrax attacks post-9/11.
Finally, Zimmer records our government’s reluctance to aerobiology and acceptance of airborne diseases, including during COVID-19. This book infuriated me towards our government and the World Health Organization’s response to COVID; from the lack of preventative measures, the lack of urgency to a pending pandemic, and then the urgency to return to everyday business even though the disease was still killing 3 million people each year. Zimmer details the failures of both parties, and many departments including the CDC.
For anyone who is still processing the pandemic and its tragedies, this might be a book to skip for a while.
Air-Borne is fascinating and is especially accessible to people with minimal scientific background knowledge (such as myself). Zimmer describes how our air is full of microorganisms including throughout the different levels of the atmosphere and details the discovery of airborne microorganisms and the steps of medical history that led to their discovery.
Air-Borne also explores the history of creating biological weapons and there use; from the race between the US and USSR during the Cold War to stock up our arsenals, to the Iraq war and anthrax attacks post-9/11.
Finally, Zimmer records our government’s reluctance to aerobiology and acceptance of airborne diseases, including during COVID-19. This book infuriated me towards our government and the World Health Organization’s response to COVID; from the lack of preventative measures, the lack of urgency to a pending pandemic, and then the urgency to return to everyday business even though the disease was still killing 3 million people each year. Zimmer details the failures of both parties, and many departments including the CDC.
For anyone who is still processing the pandemic and its tragedies, this might be a book to skip for a while.
November 3, 2025
This book provides a history of the development and current status of the science of aerobiology. Included with this history are descriptions of the persistent unwillingness of humans to acknowledge and confront the potential of airborne diseases. Since aerobiology is a subset of pathology the development of germ theory is included in this history which replaced the ancient miasma theory. One reason scientists were slow to accept the concept of air-borne transmission of diseases is because it appeared to be a reversion back to the discredited miasma theory. Also it's not pleasant to contemplate the idea of pathogens traveling long ranges in the air in conditions that were not easy to control, and there's a human intuitive tendency to not believe that which cannot be seen.
There are names and stories of many scientists referenced in this history of aerobiology, but two in particular who played particularly significant roles were William Wells and his wife Mildred. In the mid-twentieth century they published numerous articles and a book about their experiments showing evidence of the airborne spread of diseases. Some of the resistance they encountered in the scientific community was made worse by their abrasive personalities (William in particular). I as a reader couldn't help but wonder how things may have been different had they been more congenial and cooperative in their relationships with others.
This book also recounts the he history of the development of technologies for germ warfare as well as our more recent experiences with SARS and H1N1 outbreaks. Even in the recent COVID pandemic, in spite of improved computer models and the availability of DNA sequencing, the World Heath Organization was reluctant to accept the reality of spread via airborne pathways. And then there's the dynamic of political forces which has turned science into a partisan issue which has become more polarized than ever.
Airborne bacteria, viruses, and fungi can be found everywhere in the atmosphere—all the way from our breath to the highest parts of the stratosphere. The following excerpt is a description of the findings of researchers when they examined the detailed mechanics of the spread of air-borne droplets from breathing, and with those droplets the potential spread of pathogens.
There are names and stories of many scientists referenced in this history of aerobiology, but two in particular who played particularly significant roles were William Wells and his wife Mildred. In the mid-twentieth century they published numerous articles and a book about their experiments showing evidence of the airborne spread of diseases. Some of the resistance they encountered in the scientific community was made worse by their abrasive personalities (William in particular). I as a reader couldn't help but wonder how things may have been different had they been more congenial and cooperative in their relationships with others.
This book also recounts the he history of the development of technologies for germ warfare as well as our more recent experiences with SARS and H1N1 outbreaks. Even in the recent COVID pandemic, in spite of improved computer models and the availability of DNA sequencing, the World Heath Organization was reluctant to accept the reality of spread via airborne pathways. And then there's the dynamic of political forces which has turned science into a partisan issue which has become more polarized than ever.
Airborne bacteria, viruses, and fungi can be found everywhere in the atmosphere—all the way from our breath to the highest parts of the stratosphere. The following excerpt is a description of the findings of researchers when they examined the detailed mechanics of the spread of air-borne droplets from breathing, and with those droplets the potential spread of pathogens.
… an abundant supply of droplets in the air when ... volunteers merely talked. Even their quiet breaths released beads of water. …
Different parts of the airway produce them in different ways. When air flows over the large tubes of the airway, the throat and bronchi in the lungs it ruffles the mucus coating the walls and pulls up threads that snap apart into beads. At the end of an exhalation some smaller branches in our lungs squeeze shut. They then pop open again as we inhale. That snap liberates its own batch of droplets, which can also fly out in the next exhaled breath. As we talk, the vibrations of the larynx unleash droplets, too. Even the movements of our mouth that produce consonants and vowels break off saliva from our teeth and lips then set it loose into the air. …
... Droplets released from a sneeze do not travel in isolation. They are part of a lung-made cloud composed of warm gas and liquid. Its momentum holds it together and pushes it forward as its warmth lifts it toward the ceiling. Carried along inside to the cloud, even large droplets can travel much farther… As they fly inside the cloud they get extra time to evaporate into droplet nuclei that can then float on their own. … these clouds spread pathogens farther as well, increasing the threat of airborne pathogens to anyone who might inhale them.
February 25, 2025
Fascinating and informative exploration of our air and our health
In Air-Borne, Carl Zimmer examines the subject of aerobiology, the science of airborne life. This sounded to me like an interesting subject but not an especially controversial one. Was I wrong! The topic of life, especially disease-causing germs, in the air has been extremely controversial, and I was surprised at how long the controversies continued, even continue today during the COVID epidemic.
Zimmer covers the broad history of our investigation of life in the air and the MANY people who played a role in that investigation, such as Charles Darwin and Charles Lindbergh. One of the many things that surprised me a bit was how recently the scientific method began to be used.
Once we learned a bit about how germs can spread via the air, it is not surprising that countries would use the knowledge to develop weapons of biological warfare to kill the enemy with disease rather than guns and bombs, and this sobering topic is also covered.
Finally, Air-Borne looks at a very current example of aerobiological controversy, COVID infection and the disagreements about how it spreads and how to treat and prevent it. To mask or not to mask, that is the question.
The science in Air-Borne is not the only thing to enjoy. Readers are introduced to the many researchers like who studied (and fought over) how germs spread. I was surprised and a bit abashed that I was not at all familiar with important people like William and Mildred Wells, who did seminal work on airborne contagion and air hygiene, or the 19th-century German naturalist Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg, who made the first systematic survey of microorganisms and gave a name to one group he classified: bacteria! I laughed out loud at the christening of a balloon to be used for research involving spores at high altitudes; they used liquid air instead of champagne! There are also nonscientists like the Skagit Valley Chorale singers in Washington state who demonstrated that COVID-19 can be spread through the air---by singing.
It has been a long time since I read such a fascinating book. As I was reading it, I kept wanting to stop to share tidbits with my husband, but I restrained myself, because he will certainly want to read the book, and I do not want to spoil his fun!
I received an advance review copy of this book from NetGalley and Dutton.
In Air-Borne, Carl Zimmer examines the subject of aerobiology, the science of airborne life. This sounded to me like an interesting subject but not an especially controversial one. Was I wrong! The topic of life, especially disease-causing germs, in the air has been extremely controversial, and I was surprised at how long the controversies continued, even continue today during the COVID epidemic.
Zimmer covers the broad history of our investigation of life in the air and the MANY people who played a role in that investigation, such as Charles Darwin and Charles Lindbergh. One of the many things that surprised me a bit was how recently the scientific method began to be used.
Once we learned a bit about how germs can spread via the air, it is not surprising that countries would use the knowledge to develop weapons of biological warfare to kill the enemy with disease rather than guns and bombs, and this sobering topic is also covered.
Finally, Air-Borne looks at a very current example of aerobiological controversy, COVID infection and the disagreements about how it spreads and how to treat and prevent it. To mask or not to mask, that is the question.
The science in Air-Borne is not the only thing to enjoy. Readers are introduced to the many researchers like who studied (and fought over) how germs spread. I was surprised and a bit abashed that I was not at all familiar with important people like William and Mildred Wells, who did seminal work on airborne contagion and air hygiene, or the 19th-century German naturalist Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg, who made the first systematic survey of microorganisms and gave a name to one group he classified: bacteria! I laughed out loud at the christening of a balloon to be used for research involving spores at high altitudes; they used liquid air instead of champagne! There are also nonscientists like the Skagit Valley Chorale singers in Washington state who demonstrated that COVID-19 can be spread through the air---by singing.
It has been a long time since I read such a fascinating book. As I was reading it, I kept wanting to stop to share tidbits with my husband, but I restrained myself, because he will certainly want to read the book, and I do not want to spoil his fun!
I received an advance review copy of this book from NetGalley and Dutton.
March 19, 2025
CW: testing on animals, medical content, death from disease including COVID-19.
This book is a 187K word deep-dive on the history of aerobiology, which is the a branch of science that studies how viruses, bacteria, spores, and pollen can be transported via aerosols in the air. Aerosols are any liquid or solid material small enough that they can float in the air. You have probably heard of PM2.5 (particulate matter smaller than 2.5 microns in diameter) as it is one of the major pollutants we monitor with the air quality index.
Like particulate matter, viruses, bacteria, spores, and pollen can also be aerosolized. This book goes through a detailed history of our scientific understanding of aerobiology and the implications for bioweapons and disease.
The prologue of this book opens up with a concert at the Skagit Valley Chorale... and if you are like me and very closely followed aerosol experts on Twitter in 2020--you know the significance of this choir. They had a super spreader event at the very beginning of the pandemic, and it was this choir that was a major piece of evidence that COVID-19 is an airborne through the aerosolization of the virus from normal breathing (and singing).
After the prologue we get 350 pages of the history of aerobiology, which is super important to understand the context of why air-borne transmission pathways has been met with skepticism as recently as 2020 with the COVID-19 pandemic. You learn about Mildred Wells and her husband who studied airborne transmission of tuberculosis. You learn about why their transformative work went ignored or dismissed. Turns out being unlikable and publishing research against a general consensus is not a good mix. Although this history is important, I couldn’t help wondering if this history could’ve been condensed.
But then finally in chapter 15, we get back to the COVID-19 pandemic. From chapter 15 until the end, I couldn't put the book down reading about the major mistakes that we collectively made as a society on COVID-19 and continued to make through 2021.
If you are especially interested in COVID-19 read the prologue and then Page 315--end. If you want the full history, read the entire book.
Also, there is a history of how UV light was used to prevent transmission of disease, but the wavelength of the UV light and the logistics are not discussed until the very last chapter.
(4.5 stars)
This book is a 187K word deep-dive on the history of aerobiology, which is the a branch of science that studies how viruses, bacteria, spores, and pollen can be transported via aerosols in the air. Aerosols are any liquid or solid material small enough that they can float in the air. You have probably heard of PM2.5 (particulate matter smaller than 2.5 microns in diameter) as it is one of the major pollutants we monitor with the air quality index.
Like particulate matter, viruses, bacteria, spores, and pollen can also be aerosolized. This book goes through a detailed history of our scientific understanding of aerobiology and the implications for bioweapons and disease.
The prologue of this book opens up with a concert at the Skagit Valley Chorale... and if you are like me and very closely followed aerosol experts on Twitter in 2020--you know the significance of this choir. They had a super spreader event at the very beginning of the pandemic, and it was this choir that was a major piece of evidence that COVID-19 is an airborne through the aerosolization of the virus from normal breathing (and singing).
After the prologue we get 350 pages of the history of aerobiology, which is super important to understand the context of why air-borne transmission pathways has been met with skepticism as recently as 2020 with the COVID-19 pandemic. You learn about Mildred Wells and her husband who studied airborne transmission of tuberculosis. You learn about why their transformative work went ignored or dismissed. Turns out being unlikable and publishing research against a general consensus is not a good mix. Although this history is important, I couldn’t help wondering if this history could’ve been condensed.
But then finally in chapter 15, we get back to the COVID-19 pandemic. From chapter 15 until the end, I couldn't put the book down reading about the major mistakes that we collectively made as a society on COVID-19 and continued to make through 2021.
If you are especially interested in COVID-19 read the prologue and then Page 315--end. If you want the full history, read the entire book.
Also, there is a history of how UV light was used to prevent transmission of disease, but the wavelength of the UV light and the logistics are not discussed until the very last chapter.
(4.5 stars)
May 17, 2025
I'm a scientist trained in lung infection and I found this so fascinating. I learned so much about the history of airborne infection science, shout out to Mildred! I also found this to be the most comprehensive history I've read so far about the scientific disagreements and public health mishaps during the 2020 COVID pandemic. It's amazing what we didn't know, and what scientists and officials argued about at length as the pandemic ranged on. I loved this book and recommend it for anyone interested in the science of our air - great on audio format as well.
August 22, 2025
The air we breathe teems with microbial life. This book traces the natural, medical, and military history of airborne diseases. It’s part the scientific study of air as a means of disease spread, and part the global, ongoing microbial warfare since the Second World War.
There was an interesting debate in the 19th century between the miasma and germ theory regarding disease transportation. At the time, no one imagined that “miasma”—the mysterious bad air blamed for illness—might in fact have been germs in the air. Why is it so difficult to convince the medical establishment that airborne diseases are common? I think one reason is fear, the fear of having no adequate ways to control an airborne disease therefore we hide our heads in the sand. It took WHO two years to declare Covid-19 airborne. Even today, scientists still do not fully understand the mechanics of how diseases like tuberculosis, measles, and COVID-19 spread through the air. With the certainty of future pandemics, the urgency of solving that mystery could not be clearer.
Here is an article about far-UVC, "a type of ultraviolet light, at wavelengths of roughly 200 to 235 nanometers, that can kill the vast majority of airborne pathogens it targets, without damaging human skin or eyes the way longer-wavelength UV does": https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/41...
There was an interesting debate in the 19th century between the miasma and germ theory regarding disease transportation. At the time, no one imagined that “miasma”—the mysterious bad air blamed for illness—might in fact have been germs in the air. Why is it so difficult to convince the medical establishment that airborne diseases are common? I think one reason is fear, the fear of having no adequate ways to control an airborne disease therefore we hide our heads in the sand. It took WHO two years to declare Covid-19 airborne. Even today, scientists still do not fully understand the mechanics of how diseases like tuberculosis, measles, and COVID-19 spread through the air. With the certainty of future pandemics, the urgency of solving that mystery could not be clearer.
Here is an article about far-UVC, "a type of ultraviolet light, at wavelengths of roughly 200 to 235 nanometers, that can kill the vast majority of airborne pathogens it targets, without damaging human skin or eyes the way longer-wavelength UV does": https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/41...
September 15, 2025
Carl Zimmer is a science writer and journalist; I previously read and very much enjoyed his 2019 book on my field, She Has Her Mother's Laugh: The Powers, Perversions, and Potential of Heredity. His 2025 book Air-Borne, likely at least partially inspired by the air-borne nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, is a deep-dive into the long history of scientific and medical research into contagious illnesses that have an airborne mechanism of transmission (and the parallel research field of exploiting airborne transmission as a means of bioterrorism).
As is typical of Zimmer's books, this work is extremely thorough (496 page physical book/16 hour audiobook) and well-researched. Though his topic is certainly extremely broad, and I'm sure many characters and stories were cut for length, the included vignettes are presented in a level of detail that often exceeded my interest level and attention span. The sheer volume of stories and characters unfortunately also precluded the book from being engaging from start to finish, at least personally. I perked up again toward the end of the book as Zimmer detailed the US' history of pandemic preparedness (or not) and how the air-borne transmission of COVID-19 was inconsistently and inaccurately messaged in the early days of the pandemic.
My statistics:
Book 285 for 2025
Book 2211 cumulatively
As is typical of Zimmer's books, this work is extremely thorough (496 page physical book/16 hour audiobook) and well-researched. Though his topic is certainly extremely broad, and I'm sure many characters and stories were cut for length, the included vignettes are presented in a level of detail that often exceeded my interest level and attention span. The sheer volume of stories and characters unfortunately also precluded the book from being engaging from start to finish, at least personally. I perked up again toward the end of the book as Zimmer detailed the US' history of pandemic preparedness (or not) and how the air-borne transmission of COVID-19 was inconsistently and inaccurately messaged in the early days of the pandemic.
My statistics:
Book 285 for 2025
Book 2211 cumulatively
April 16, 2025
This was an interesting look at the history of the study of invisible life in the air we breathe. While I certainly expected to read about Louis Pasteur, Charles Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart were not among those I had anticipated to be included in this book. One of the most interesting scientists in the book are a husband-and-wife team named William and Mildred Wells who were convinced that some infections were airborne and could travel very long distances, not just a few feet as might be the case with a sneeze. They never received the recognition they deserved for their work, and they died never knowing they were correct.
The last part of the book deals with biological weapons, anthrax, and other pathogens including Covid-19. Informative read if you enjoy biological science.
The last part of the book deals with biological weapons, anthrax, and other pathogens including Covid-19. Informative read if you enjoy biological science.
October 4, 2025
Mostly enjoyed this book as a brief telling of the history of airborne infections. I felt like there were some parts that went into a lot of detail when other parts did not.
This field is still very much in development and this book highlights how much more is needed to understand the spread of diseases. This also has me thinking about how much work is done by lab staff, like graduate students and staff, and how their supervisors get all of the credit for the results. In some cases, supervisors solely provide funding with minimal oversight and mentorship. Yet, when books retell these stories, the layperson would believe that the supervisors were the one doing the lab work and running the experiment. In some cases, that might be true, but most of the time it is not.
This field is still very much in development and this book highlights how much more is needed to understand the spread of diseases. This also has me thinking about how much work is done by lab staff, like graduate students and staff, and how their supervisors get all of the credit for the results. In some cases, supervisors solely provide funding with minimal oversight and mentorship. Yet, when books retell these stories, the layperson would believe that the supervisors were the one doing the lab work and running the experiment. In some cases, that might be true, but most of the time it is not.
May 17, 2025
A very informative book about aerobiology and diseases spread through the air, including Covid 19.
Louis Pasteur was the first aerobiologist, figuring out that bacteria can actually float in the air.
Later, husband & wife scientists William & Mildred Wells studied airborne disease transmission and indoor ventialtion (mid 1930's - 1962). They invented a centrifuge to sample the air and learned we expel droplets as we breathe, sneeze and cough - bigger droplets fall to the ground and smaller droplets float in the air. They were first to prove that diseases could be transmitted through the air. They also discovered influenza & measles (the most contagious airborn disease) could be killed in the air with UV lights. Wells proved that Tuberculosis was an airborne disease. Although the Wells made the biggest contribution to airborne disease knowledge to date, they were virtually forgotten due to their difficulty working with others.
It goes through lots of other scientists who contributed to airborne disease transmission understanding ... and then Covid 19 happened. (If that's mainly what you care about, read the Prologue and page 33 - the end of the book.)
This was an eye opening read on airborne disease transmission and a history of disease transmission through the ages. Also the struggle to get governments & their agencies to make responsible decisions and info dissemination for/to the public. (We need to understand that sometimes government makes choices based on supply availability instead of public safety). It's amazing what we now know ... IF people and governments will just listen and act accordingly!
* I HOPE our government adds plenty of N95 respirator masks to its stockpile, so we don't repeat the COVID-19 situation again. (I'm going to personally order a couple to have on hand just in case.)
I highly recommend this book. It is well researched and sources are cited at the end. I really hope government will learn and act on scientifically proven facts about airborne transmission, because it's pretty certain that future infections/epidemics will continue to happen.
Louis Pasteur was the first aerobiologist, figuring out that bacteria can actually float in the air.
Later, husband & wife scientists William & Mildred Wells studied airborne disease transmission and indoor ventialtion (mid 1930's - 1962). They invented a centrifuge to sample the air and learned we expel droplets as we breathe, sneeze and cough - bigger droplets fall to the ground and smaller droplets float in the air. They were first to prove that diseases could be transmitted through the air. They also discovered influenza & measles (the most contagious airborn disease) could be killed in the air with UV lights. Wells proved that Tuberculosis was an airborne disease. Although the Wells made the biggest contribution to airborne disease knowledge to date, they were virtually forgotten due to their difficulty working with others.
It goes through lots of other scientists who contributed to airborne disease transmission understanding ... and then Covid 19 happened. (If that's mainly what you care about, read the Prologue and page 33 - the end of the book.)
This was an eye opening read on airborne disease transmission and a history of disease transmission through the ages. Also the struggle to get governments & their agencies to make responsible decisions and info dissemination for/to the public. (We need to understand that sometimes government makes choices based on supply availability instead of public safety). It's amazing what we now know ... IF people and governments will just listen and act accordingly!
* I HOPE our government adds plenty of N95 respirator masks to its stockpile, so we don't repeat the COVID-19 situation again. (I'm going to personally order a couple to have on hand just in case.)
I highly recommend this book. It is well researched and sources are cited at the end. I really hope government will learn and act on scientifically proven facts about airborne transmission, because it's pretty certain that future infections/epidemics will continue to happen.
April 20, 2025
I put a hold on this book right after I heard the author on Radiolab. As someone who’s gotten really into advocating for clean air, and who continues to mask as we’re still in a pandemic, I didn’t expect this book to provide much new information. I was wrong. This book provides an in-depth history of aerobiology. I was surprised to learn how much push-back there has been in my lifetime. I had no idea that airborne transmission of many viruses was so controversial. It was enraging seeing that public health officials should have known covid was airborne from very early in the pandemic and thinking how many lives could have been saved (and perhaps the pandemic halted) if appropriate mitigations had been employed. Early on in the pandemic I started following some of the scientists working on proving that COVID-19 was airborne on Twitter and it felt like running into old friends seeing their names in Zimmer’s book. I think anyone who cares about health, and especially anyone involved in IPAC, should read this book.
June 5, 2025
I may not be approaching this book as it was intended by the author, but I felt like there was far too much biographical information as compared to the amount of scientific information. For example, there was a great deal of discussion about how difficult William Wells was to work with and how impossible it was to get him to stop rewriting his findings.
October 28, 2025
Started it, abandoned it. Unlike the air, there's not much there there. What is there is a lot of talk about the people that talk about the air, but not much talk about the air they're talking about.
April 30, 2025
I read my first Carl Zimmer book when I was in college. I took a random class on parasitology. His novel, Parasite Rex, was our textbook. I looked up his other works and devoured them! As a biology major and lover of books, he quickly became one of my favorite authors.
I enjoyed this book quite a bit! The stories were captivating, and I learned a lot of new things. My only fault is that the last couple chapters talk about COVID-19 which is great, I just feel like I’ve recently heard a lot of the info, and it wasn’t as historical/novel to me.
I enjoyed this book quite a bit! The stories were captivating, and I learned a lot of new things. My only fault is that the last couple chapters talk about COVID-19 which is great, I just feel like I’ve recently heard a lot of the info, and it wasn’t as historical/novel to me.
December 6, 2025
A fascinating book that looks at the history of air-borne diseases, from the people who investigated the possibility that some diseases might be air-borne, to the current day COVID-19 outbreak, which many (including the WHO) initially declared was not an air-borne disease, until the weight of evidence and studies eventually forced authorities to accept that it was air-borne. Hopefully, the lessons to be learned from COVID-19 may be used to blunt the effects of the next air-borne pandemic.
The book starts with the history of diseases, between those who believe diseases were spread by contagion (close contact) and by miasmas ('bad air'). The germ theory of diseases would help settle the matter on the side of contagion. But those who studied the air would find that it was filled with particles (spores, fungi and germs), even high in the stratosphere. While there was evidence that some diseases, like plant rust, could be spread by air, most researches dismiss it, believing that disease causing particles were mainly spread by close contact. As most, some diseases may be spread by droplets (via coughs and sneezes) but the droplets were considered too heavy to be kept air-borne for long.
But some scientists did believe that some diseases, like influenza, tuberculosis or measles, could be air-borne. They ran experiments, using ultraviolet lights to sterilise the air, and equipment to capture air-borne diseases particles, to gather evidence. But such experiments are hard to run and to reproduce properly. It also didn't help that one of the principle scientists advocating for air-borne diseases featured in the book, William Firth Wells, was considered hard to work with and was his own worst enemy at advocating for air-borne diseases.
During the world wars, research into air-borne diseases would turn from prevention to causing diseases, especially in enemy areas. Bioweapons were developed (like rust or anthrax) but never deployed at large scale as the effects were either not great enough or not specific enough (diseases don't discriminate over who gets infected). But accidents do occur, showing the effects bioweapons could have on populations if they were ever used.
Eventually, major health organisations, like the US CDC (Centre for Disease Control) would dismiss most of the work on air-borne diseases. One unfortunate 'fact' that would emerge from this episode was the belief that only particles smaller than 5 microns can be air-borne. This was a mis-statement, as only such tiny particles can penetrate deep into the lungs to cause diseases like tuberculosis: larger particles could still be air-borne and cause diseases if they do not have to penetrate as deeply (like COVID-19).
Moving to the modern era, the book looks at some pandemics and incidents (like bird flu, Ebola, AIDS, anthrax attacks) that would cause panics over whether they could become air-borne diseases. These would divert attention and resources from the few known air-borne diseases, preventing research into methods to make the air safer (like providing proper ventilation and filtration).
Then, COVID-19 appears, causing a global pandemic. While vaccines would eventually help end it, the death toll might have been lower if COVID-19 had been recognised as an air-borne disease earlier, leading to better prevention methods like better ventilation, instead of promoting less effective methods like social distancing or constant handwashing.
Today, there is now more research into air-borne diseases and to particles in the air in general. Fast DNA sequencing and other methods have now shown that air-borne particles can travel high in the air and for thousands of miles. Better ventilation and methods to sterilise and filter the air are being advocated for better health.
Hopefully, we are now better prepared when the next air-borne pandemic appears.
The book starts with the history of diseases, between those who believe diseases were spread by contagion (close contact) and by miasmas ('bad air'). The germ theory of diseases would help settle the matter on the side of contagion. But those who studied the air would find that it was filled with particles (spores, fungi and germs), even high in the stratosphere. While there was evidence that some diseases, like plant rust, could be spread by air, most researches dismiss it, believing that disease causing particles were mainly spread by close contact. As most, some diseases may be spread by droplets (via coughs and sneezes) but the droplets were considered too heavy to be kept air-borne for long.
But some scientists did believe that some diseases, like influenza, tuberculosis or measles, could be air-borne. They ran experiments, using ultraviolet lights to sterilise the air, and equipment to capture air-borne diseases particles, to gather evidence. But such experiments are hard to run and to reproduce properly. It also didn't help that one of the principle scientists advocating for air-borne diseases featured in the book, William Firth Wells, was considered hard to work with and was his own worst enemy at advocating for air-borne diseases.
During the world wars, research into air-borne diseases would turn from prevention to causing diseases, especially in enemy areas. Bioweapons were developed (like rust or anthrax) but never deployed at large scale as the effects were either not great enough or not specific enough (diseases don't discriminate over who gets infected). But accidents do occur, showing the effects bioweapons could have on populations if they were ever used.
Eventually, major health organisations, like the US CDC (Centre for Disease Control) would dismiss most of the work on air-borne diseases. One unfortunate 'fact' that would emerge from this episode was the belief that only particles smaller than 5 microns can be air-borne. This was a mis-statement, as only such tiny particles can penetrate deep into the lungs to cause diseases like tuberculosis: larger particles could still be air-borne and cause diseases if they do not have to penetrate as deeply (like COVID-19).
Moving to the modern era, the book looks at some pandemics and incidents (like bird flu, Ebola, AIDS, anthrax attacks) that would cause panics over whether they could become air-borne diseases. These would divert attention and resources from the few known air-borne diseases, preventing research into methods to make the air safer (like providing proper ventilation and filtration).
Then, COVID-19 appears, causing a global pandemic. While vaccines would eventually help end it, the death toll might have been lower if COVID-19 had been recognised as an air-borne disease earlier, leading to better prevention methods like better ventilation, instead of promoting less effective methods like social distancing or constant handwashing.
Today, there is now more research into air-borne diseases and to particles in the air in general. Fast DNA sequencing and other methods have now shown that air-borne particles can travel high in the air and for thousands of miles. Better ventilation and methods to sterilise and filter the air are being advocated for better health.
Hopefully, we are now better prepared when the next air-borne pandemic appears.
September 2, 2025
My two big gripes about this unbalanced book: the first is the choice of narrative focus while the second failure is downright dangerous.
You should take the sub-title of this book seriously: "The Hidden History of the Life We Breathe." I was expecting a broader overview of the science and history of the study of the transmission of airborne stuff: particulates, pollens, molecules, bacteria, viruses, etc. This book is very heavy on the history, and almost exclusively focuses on airborne pathogens. The unevenness is not just the what but the who. It's as if Zimmer had almost written a biography of William Wells (with his wife Martha Wells only as his sidekick), but didn't quite want to commit. A huge chunk of the book is devoted to this complicated misanthrope, which gets very grating. Yes, he was hard headed and difficult to work with, we get it.
But more egregious to me is Zimmer's dogged commitment to telling the history of aerobiology in strict chronological order. This means it is an exercise left to the reader as to which side of the historic scientific debates is understood as accurate today. As an example, a lesser-informed reader bringing their own baggage to the book might assume that masks absolutely didn't help during the 1918 flu pandemic, because of the way the information is presented.
In good science communication, particularly when dealing with historical debates that have real-world consequences, the story should always inform the reader about the current understanding, even if the answer is nuanced. You get a sense from the final chapters dealing with the 2020 SARS-COV2 pandemic what that answer might be, but yet again, Zimmer doesn't want to take sides. It's pretty enraging.
I want to be sure I mention a few of the good parts, and what I learned. Zimmer presents a compelling argument why aerobiology as a bonafide scientific discipline never really found a strong identity. The in-fighting and personality clashes has hampered and continues to hamper the field, and leads to experts scattered across other related disciplines. This, in turn, leads to poorly disseminated research, ineffective communication, and assumptions when the science is outside of an author's discipline. In addition, the descriptions of the clever experiments done 100+ years ago were very fun and compelling.
Overall, though, I don't think I can recommend this book.
You should take the sub-title of this book seriously: "The Hidden History of the Life We Breathe." I was expecting a broader overview of the science and history of the study of the transmission of airborne stuff: particulates, pollens, molecules, bacteria, viruses, etc. This book is very heavy on the history, and almost exclusively focuses on airborne pathogens. The unevenness is not just the what but the who. It's as if Zimmer had almost written a biography of William Wells (with his wife Martha Wells only as his sidekick), but didn't quite want to commit. A huge chunk of the book is devoted to this complicated misanthrope, which gets very grating. Yes, he was hard headed and difficult to work with, we get it.
But more egregious to me is Zimmer's dogged commitment to telling the history of aerobiology in strict chronological order. This means it is an exercise left to the reader as to which side of the historic scientific debates is understood as accurate today. As an example, a lesser-informed reader bringing their own baggage to the book might assume that masks absolutely didn't help during the 1918 flu pandemic, because of the way the information is presented.
In good science communication, particularly when dealing with historical debates that have real-world consequences, the story should always inform the reader about the current understanding, even if the answer is nuanced. You get a sense from the final chapters dealing with the 2020 SARS-COV2 pandemic what that answer might be, but yet again, Zimmer doesn't want to take sides. It's pretty enraging.
I want to be sure I mention a few of the good parts, and what I learned. Zimmer presents a compelling argument why aerobiology as a bonafide scientific discipline never really found a strong identity. The in-fighting and personality clashes has hampered and continues to hamper the field, and leads to experts scattered across other related disciplines. This, in turn, leads to poorly disseminated research, ineffective communication, and assumptions when the science is outside of an author's discipline. In addition, the descriptions of the clever experiments done 100+ years ago were very fun and compelling.
Overall, though, I don't think I can recommend this book.
April 16, 2025
This is a phenomenally written book. It's rare that a historical scientific narrative would capture one's attention from the first page to the last, but the author has a unique talent on weaving anachronistic learnings into an overarching theme. And what is the theme? Scientific communication is an absolutely critical asset that can literally endanger lives. It's easy to blame the Wells' for their inability to connect with the public on their crucial discoveries (that would arguably keep the field of aerobiology stagnant for decades), but the case studies of H5N1, Ebola, and of course Covid show how much hinged on (un)successful scientific communication. Covid has been exceptional in its systematic repression of evidence-based findings... but then again who wants to hear that there is such a thing as an 'aerobiome' and that even masks cannot prevent the constant flux of global microbial diversity. We think we have been so intelligent to contain and study microbes on the ground, in water, and underground, when the whole time they have been taking to the air via spores and rust and other granule based methods of transport. Everyone should read this book to better appreciate how little we understand about the world and how we should constantly be ready to reevaluate what we know. Our faith in our institutions is well placed but we should never be intimidated to seek the truth, whether it's in a poorly written 1940 scientific paper or a jargon-laden modern publication. Because the consequences could literally be deadly.
July 18, 2025
98, I don't know what you could have done to make this perfect. Mind you, but damn, this is Excellent book educating me.
Particles and diseases. Pathogens can be transmitted via air, educating me on the history of a bunch of different AirPoint diseases and non-airborne diseases. And really, this is just book on pathogens largely well Airborne. It does take up A large percentage of it. Oh my gosh, this was so. This is so freaking educational on So many different fronts About pathogen awareness and pathogen education that I find it absolutely shocking. Especially how hard it was to Get this stuff to be acknowledged By medical regimes, and that is still the case. It is still extremely hard Because of, I would say, even say, it's getting worse Because of how inert allopathic medicine and the current institutions are to change Wildly educational, Extremely intriguing, especially for somebody that specializes in the medical field.
more please!
Particles and diseases. Pathogens can be transmitted via air, educating me on the history of a bunch of different AirPoint diseases and non-airborne diseases. And really, this is just book on pathogens largely well Airborne. It does take up A large percentage of it. Oh my gosh, this was so. This is so freaking educational on So many different fronts About pathogen awareness and pathogen education that I find it absolutely shocking. Especially how hard it was to Get this stuff to be acknowledged By medical regimes, and that is still the case. It is still extremely hard Because of, I would say, even say, it's getting worse Because of how inert allopathic medicine and the current institutions are to change Wildly educational, Extremely intriguing, especially for somebody that specializes in the medical field.
more please!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 28, 2025
Kind of an offbeat premise for a science book, but air is a legitimate topic of study. The focus is on aerobiology, particularly viruses. Much, much space is given to the painfully slow adoption of aerial transmission of disease, owing to a lot of stubbornness in the scientific community and the unfortunate legacy of miasma theory. Zimmer's detailed account of the WHO's and CDC's catastrophically belated recognition of COVID-19's airborne transmission explains why so many have their doubts about the "medical establishment." Even so, the science eventually got there, and for that we should be thankful.
There was a lot of dull, biographic material that could have been gotten through quicker. I was most interested in the early days of aerobiology and Part 5 on COVID-19. As with any field, aerobiology has had its fair share of peculiar characters.
There was a lot of dull, biographic material that could have been gotten through quicker. I was most interested in the early days of aerobiology and Part 5 on COVID-19. As with any field, aerobiology has had its fair share of peculiar characters.
June 30, 2025
Explains why the CDC and the WHO got so much wrong in the early days of the Covid pandemic, about how the disease could be transmitted — medical orthodoxy could not accept the fact that viral infections could be airborne, based on poor and incomplete research from decades ago. Book is well written and thoroughly researched and maybe a bit too detailed, but this is a story that needs to be documented.
September 11, 2025
I did this as an audiobook, and it was a fantastic listen. There were bits of history I never thought about before. As a Pulmonary Pharmacist, I was interested in the technicalities of partial size and infection transmission. The only reason why I’m not giving it a 10 is that it lacked a chapter on inhalation drug development which would have been well aligned with the theme.
As a medical professional, while this book was written in terms and language accessible to the general public, I still found it interesting and engaging from the perspective of someone who has more base knowledge in this area. Well done.
4.5 ⭐️
As a medical professional, while this book was written in terms and language accessible to the general public, I still found it interesting and engaging from the perspective of someone who has more base knowledge in this area. Well done.
4.5 ⭐️
June 17, 2025
This is the best nonfiction book I've read in ages, maybe ever. It's 400+ pages of well-researched and highly readable science history, and it's absolutely fascinating.
If you're not a science geek, just read the last section, about the COVID pandemic.
If you're not a science geek, just read the last section, about the COVID pandemic.
April 10, 2025
A masterclass in how to delicately critique the scientific establishment in the wake of some deeply consequential mistakes, without losing sight of the most fundamental idea, that the best cure for bad science is good science.
July 8, 2025
The author leads us on an odyssey through the living atmosphere (with respect to microbes and biomes) and through the history of its discovery.
August 22, 2025
Finally a book that is equal parts history and science
September 18, 2025
3.5 this book was pretty interesting
Way more history than science, which is fine but I was expecting a bit more of a mix.
Good, good book.
Way more history than science, which is fine but I was expecting a bit more of a mix.
Good, good book.
October 2, 2025
This was an extremely thorough overview of the history of “air-borne” diseases. It starts in the late 19th century examining infectious diseases that plagued the populations tracks it way to modern day as the theory of air-borne contamination is questioned and proved.
April 16, 2025
Incredibly boring. 400 pages of nothing of the slightest bit interesting. And nothing new to anyone awake thru the Covid years. A complete waste of time to publish this book.
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