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Panic in Level 4: Cannibals, Killer Viruses, and Other Journeys to the Edge of Science
In these engrossing case studies, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Hot Zone reports back from some of the most exotic, frightening, and exhilarating frontiers of science
“Darkly fascinating . . . sure to please science fanatics, or anyone else obsessed with nature’s murkier mysteries.”—Newsweek
Panic in Level 4 is a grand tour through the eerie and unforgettable universe of Richard Preston, filled with incredible characters and mysteries that refuse to leave one’s mind. Here are dramatic true stories from this acclaimed and award-winning author, including
• the phenomenon of “self-cannibals,” who suffer from a rare genetic condition caused by one wrong letter in their DNA that forces them to compulsively chew their own flesh—and why everyone may have a touch of this disease
• the search for the unknown host of Ebola virus, an organism hidden somewhere in African rain forests, where the disease finds its way into the human species, causing outbreaks of unparalleled horror
• the brilliant Russian brothers—“one mathematician divided between two bodies”—who built a supercomputer in their apartment from mail-order parts in an attempt to find hidden order in the number pi
In exhilarating detail, Preston portrays the frightening forces and constructive discoveries that are currently roiling and reordering our world, once again proving himself a master of the nonfiction narrative.
“Darkly fascinating . . . sure to please science fanatics, or anyone else obsessed with nature’s murkier mysteries.”—Newsweek
Panic in Level 4 is a grand tour through the eerie and unforgettable universe of Richard Preston, filled with incredible characters and mysteries that refuse to leave one’s mind. Here are dramatic true stories from this acclaimed and award-winning author, including
• the phenomenon of “self-cannibals,” who suffer from a rare genetic condition caused by one wrong letter in their DNA that forces them to compulsively chew their own flesh—and why everyone may have a touch of this disease
• the search for the unknown host of Ebola virus, an organism hidden somewhere in African rain forests, where the disease finds its way into the human species, causing outbreaks of unparalleled horror
• the brilliant Russian brothers—“one mathematician divided between two bodies”—who built a supercomputer in their apartment from mail-order parts in an attempt to find hidden order in the number pi
In exhilarating detail, Preston portrays the frightening forces and constructive discoveries that are currently roiling and reordering our world, once again proving himself a master of the nonfiction narrative.
241 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2008
About the author
Richard Preston
21 books1,475 followersRichard Preston is a journalist and nonfiction writer.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 464 reviews
July 6, 2015
Probably should have read the synopsis a bit better.
Going into this based off of the titles, I thought it would be interesting to learn about Level 4, the place where the most dangerous viruses are quarantined where they can be studied in an attempt to learn more about them and possibly develop a cure.
The introduction begins with the author and his journey into Level 4, a place where very few people go, much less ones that aren't directly working with the viruses in question. The introduction ends and suddenly, we're learning about Chudnovsky brothers and the supercomputer they built in order to generate billions of digits of pi in order to find some sort of pattern.
I went back and read the synopsis because I was so confused as to what pi had to do with viruses.
This book isn't really about Level 4, but instead a collection of travels the author has done to people that are on the "edge" of science. Calculating pi, saving North American hemlocks, ebola and Lesch-Nyhan Syndrome are some of the topics covered. The book jumps around quite a lot, and should be considered as separate stories. One could easily pick up any chapter in this book and read it from start to finish without the other chapters.
Which is fine. Except one of the later stories references the Chudnovsky brothers, and so I had to re-read all about the brothers even though I had just met them and learned far more a few chapters before.
I found some of the chapters interesting simply because of the subject matter, but the author's personal anecdotes quickly became quite dull as he went on and on about what the person was wearing the particular day he met them, or other facts that weren't particularly relevant.
I think if you are interested learning what is happening in science and all about the scientists performing this might be a worthwhile read, but for me I could have probably read 2 chapters out of them all and been done.
Going into this based off of the titles, I thought it would be interesting to learn about Level 4, the place where the most dangerous viruses are quarantined where they can be studied in an attempt to learn more about them and possibly develop a cure.
The introduction begins with the author and his journey into Level 4, a place where very few people go, much less ones that aren't directly working with the viruses in question. The introduction ends and suddenly, we're learning about Chudnovsky brothers and the supercomputer they built in order to generate billions of digits of pi in order to find some sort of pattern.
I went back and read the synopsis because I was so confused as to what pi had to do with viruses.
This book isn't really about Level 4, but instead a collection of travels the author has done to people that are on the "edge" of science. Calculating pi, saving North American hemlocks, ebola and Lesch-Nyhan Syndrome are some of the topics covered. The book jumps around quite a lot, and should be considered as separate stories. One could easily pick up any chapter in this book and read it from start to finish without the other chapters.
Which is fine. Except one of the later stories references the Chudnovsky brothers, and so I had to re-read all about the brothers even though I had just met them and learned far more a few chapters before.
I found some of the chapters interesting simply because of the subject matter, but the author's personal anecdotes quickly became quite dull as he went on and on about what the person was wearing the particular day he met them, or other facts that weren't particularly relevant.
I think if you are interested learning what is happening in science and all about the scientists performing this might be a worthwhile read, but for me I could have probably read 2 chapters out of them all and been done.
April 19, 2014
In introducing this collection of essays, Richard Preston reflects on the nature and constraints of writing narrative non-fiction. Basically, Preston is using
Panic
as an opportunity to add to or modify his pieces (many of which originally appeared as articles in The New Yorker) and give the reader a fuller sense of things that, for whatever reason, were left unsaid at the time. The first example of this (to which the title refers) being his potential exposure to a Level 4 hazardous disease, possibly a strain of Ebola, while doing his research for
The Hot Zone
(an anecdote he omitted in the book in order to maintain a “proper” distance from the subject of his writing).
Mountains of Pi:
Technology evolves at an exponential rate (at least according to Ray Kurzweil), so I finally had to stop part-way into this story to find its original date of publication (as it turns out, March 2, 1992). It’s not that reflections on research in computer science and mathematics from twenty years ago is irrelevant, I simply needed a point of reference.
This is a profile of two brothers, David and Gregory Volfovich Chudnovsky, who built a supercomputer in their apartment in pursuit of pi. They are certainly an interesting pair, Russian immigrants who are so close that they describe themselves as “a single mathematician who, by chance, occupy two human bodies.”
I did not have an easy time “getting into” this story. Part of it, of course, is that I am not a theoretical mathematician. However, one of the things I love about an author like Douglas Hofstadter (though he and Preston do not necessarily address the same content) is his use of analogy to give his readers the opportunity to grab on to something to help them build a mental model for understanding the idea of a theory or subject they might not otherwise be able to comprehend. Preston jumps quickly to the notion of seeing God through pi, and to referring to numbers and equations as beautiful and transcendental, but without giving me the leg up I required to get a sense of what that might mean. For example:
All those other essays:
It's a testament to just how much I did not enjoy this book that I'm having trouble mustering the energy to go through the next several essays piece by piece. A Death in the Forest (about invasive exotics, in this case, the wooly adelgid) and The Human Kabbalah (which discusses the human genome project) just felt like old news to me.
The Search For Ebola was most interesting in its reflections on human fallibility (in this case, doctors' knee-jerk responses to help patients that, at times, put them in direct contact with the virus). With regard to The Lost Unicorn , as I whined about (perhaps excessively) in my review of Horns of Honor , my ninth-grade field trip to and focus on the Lady and the Unicorn tapestries have pretty much burnt me out on all things regarding said tapestries for the rest of my life.
The Self Cannibals:
Ok, so it would be hard to make this one uninteresting. I hate the title, as it all at once sensationalizes and actually diminishes the magnitude of its subject, Lesch-Nyhan Syndrome which (and I'm oversimplifying here) is a sex-linked genetic disorder that causes the individuals to be self destructive (in capacities both physical and mental).
The patient in the photo below (which I believe is from around 1987), is outfitted with a special helmet and "limited motion elbow orthoses" to prevent him from engaging in any number of possible behaviors. The possibilities are, of course, limitless. At one point, one of the subjects interviewed by Preston asks him to get rid of his pencil because he worries that he'll stab it through his hand.
Though the individuals involved in this essay were interesting and "timeless" in their own way, I was left feeling like I was only getting part of the scientific picture. Advances in deep brain stimulation and the like, while certainly nowhere near "solving" the mysteries of a syndrome as complex as Lesch-Nyhan, have revealed much about mental feedback loops relating to emotion and impulse control etc- enough that I found myself wanting to interrupt the written dialogue.
I guess, then, it's my own lack of impulse control that left me feeling so annoyed by this last in Preston's collection of essays. However, overall, I just felt like this wasn't particularly good science writing.
Mountains of Pi:
Technology evolves at an exponential rate (at least according to Ray Kurzweil), so I finally had to stop part-way into this story to find its original date of publication (as it turns out, March 2, 1992). It’s not that reflections on research in computer science and mathematics from twenty years ago is irrelevant, I simply needed a point of reference.
This is a profile of two brothers, David and Gregory Volfovich Chudnovsky, who built a supercomputer in their apartment in pursuit of pi. They are certainly an interesting pair, Russian immigrants who are so close that they describe themselves as “a single mathematician who, by chance, occupy two human bodies.”
I did not have an easy time “getting into” this story. Part of it, of course, is that I am not a theoretical mathematician. However, one of the things I love about an author like Douglas Hofstadter (though he and Preston do not necessarily address the same content) is his use of analogy to give his readers the opportunity to grab on to something to help them build a mental model for understanding the idea of a theory or subject they might not otherwise be able to comprehend. Preston jumps quickly to the notion of seeing God through pi, and to referring to numbers and equations as beautiful and transcendental, but without giving me the leg up I required to get a sense of what that might mean. For example:
The Chudnovsky formula for pi is thought to be "extremely beautiful" by persons who have a good feel for numbers.I'm sure that there are plenty of people who would find this to be a fascinating essay (probably people “who have a good feel for numbers”) and, indeed, I found the characters interesting enough, but I just never got the foothold I needed in order to enjoy it per se.
All those other essays:
It's a testament to just how much I did not enjoy this book that I'm having trouble mustering the energy to go through the next several essays piece by piece. A Death in the Forest (about invasive exotics, in this case, the wooly adelgid) and The Human Kabbalah (which discusses the human genome project) just felt like old news to me.
The Search For Ebola was most interesting in its reflections on human fallibility (in this case, doctors' knee-jerk responses to help patients that, at times, put them in direct contact with the virus). With regard to The Lost Unicorn , as I whined about (perhaps excessively) in my review of Horns of Honor , my ninth-grade field trip to and focus on the Lady and the Unicorn tapestries have pretty much burnt me out on all things regarding said tapestries for the rest of my life.
The Self Cannibals:
Ok, so it would be hard to make this one uninteresting. I hate the title, as it all at once sensationalizes and actually diminishes the magnitude of its subject, Lesch-Nyhan Syndrome which (and I'm oversimplifying here) is a sex-linked genetic disorder that causes the individuals to be self destructive (in capacities both physical and mental).
The patient in the photo below (which I believe is from around 1987), is outfitted with a special helmet and "limited motion elbow orthoses" to prevent him from engaging in any number of possible behaviors. The possibilities are, of course, limitless. At one point, one of the subjects interviewed by Preston asks him to get rid of his pencil because he worries that he'll stab it through his hand.
Though the individuals involved in this essay were interesting and "timeless" in their own way, I was left feeling like I was only getting part of the scientific picture. Advances in deep brain stimulation and the like, while certainly nowhere near "solving" the mysteries of a syndrome as complex as Lesch-Nyhan, have revealed much about mental feedback loops relating to emotion and impulse control etc- enough that I found myself wanting to interrupt the written dialogue.
I guess, then, it's my own lack of impulse control that left me feeling so annoyed by this last in Preston's collection of essays. However, overall, I just felt like this wasn't particularly good science writing.
March 18, 2008
I was a bit disappointed when I received this book and realized that it was a collection of six separate stories, and not all of them were about scary germs. My disappointment, however, was short-lived. Richard Preston has expanded and updated pieces he has written for The New Yorker about different, yet somewhat related, topics in science.
Preston's "Introduction: Adventures in Nonfiction Writing" gives interesting insights into the process of writing, while illustrating such research experiences as wearing a space suit that came unzipped in a Biosafety Level 4 lab. This is a great introduction to the stories that resulted from his process:
The Mountains of Pi is the fascinating account of slightly eccentric brothers Gregory and David Chudnovsky, "one mathematician divided between two bodies" who build a supercomputer from mail-order parts in Gregory's apartment. They needed it to calculate pi to two billion decimal places so they could search for patterns in the number.
A Death in the Forest tells of the decimation of hemlocks by the woolly adelgid, a parasitic insect. (Think a condensed version of The Wild Trees with a bit of The Hot Zone stirred in.) It is a sobering reminder of the delicacy of our ecosystem.
The Search for Ebola covers the 1994 outbreak in Kikwit. (Although it mentions one or two of the same doctors from The Hot Zone , it is not repetitious.)
The Human Kabbalah is about the Human Genome Project and the institutional politics and people involved. (I was not enthralled by the lengthy details of the turf-wars, but it was eye-opening to see how individual agendas can hinder scientific research.)
The Lost Unicorn gives the history of a series of seven tapestries titled collectively The Hunt of the Unicorn . The Chudnovsky brothers and their homemade supercomputer also play an interesting role in this story.
The Self-Cannibals is about a horrific and heartbreaking genetic disorder known as Lesch-Nyhan Syndrome, which produces symptoms such as coprolalia, involuntary self-mutilation, and poor muscle control. (This was a factor in the fictitious super-bug featured in The Cobra Event .)
Preston's "Introduction: Adventures in Nonfiction Writing" gives interesting insights into the process of writing, while illustrating such research experiences as wearing a space suit that came unzipped in a Biosafety Level 4 lab. This is a great introduction to the stories that resulted from his process:
The Mountains of Pi is the fascinating account of slightly eccentric brothers Gregory and David Chudnovsky, "one mathematician divided between two bodies" who build a supercomputer from mail-order parts in Gregory's apartment. They needed it to calculate pi to two billion decimal places so they could search for patterns in the number.
A Death in the Forest tells of the decimation of hemlocks by the woolly adelgid, a parasitic insect. (Think a condensed version of The Wild Trees with a bit of The Hot Zone stirred in.) It is a sobering reminder of the delicacy of our ecosystem.
The Search for Ebola covers the 1994 outbreak in Kikwit. (Although it mentions one or two of the same doctors from The Hot Zone , it is not repetitious.)
The Human Kabbalah is about the Human Genome Project and the institutional politics and people involved. (I was not enthralled by the lengthy details of the turf-wars, but it was eye-opening to see how individual agendas can hinder scientific research.)
The Lost Unicorn gives the history of a series of seven tapestries titled collectively The Hunt of the Unicorn . The Chudnovsky brothers and their homemade supercomputer also play an interesting role in this story.
The Self-Cannibals is about a horrific and heartbreaking genetic disorder known as Lesch-Nyhan Syndrome, which produces symptoms such as coprolalia, involuntary self-mutilation, and poor muscle control. (This was a factor in the fictitious super-bug featured in The Cobra Event .)
March 30, 2023
Like other reviewers, I was left disappointed because this book was not what I expected it to be. Maybe it was our fault for not reading the blurb too closely, but I do think the subtitle “Cannibals, Killer Viruses, and Other Journeys to the Edge of Science” is very misleading.
Of all the chapters in this book, the “cannibal” chapter was by far the most interesting to me, and of course, the most attention grabbing - but after learning what this refers to, I feel like “cannibal” is a very unfair word to use. The topic is Lesch-Nyhan Syndrome, a genetic disease that affects many aspect of a sufferer’s life. A prominent characteristic is self-harming and self-sabotaging behavior, including (but not limited to) biting off the lips and fingers - against their own will.
They are not compelled to “eat” themselves, rather they often ask to be restrained and yell for help when they feel the compulsion to hurt themselves. This behavior also displays socially, where they may reject gifts they actually want, fail on purpose when they want to succeed, and provoking anger when they want affection. I quickly understood that this trait was mental far more than it was physical, although it often manifests physically in self-harm.
For some it may be extreme nail-biting, which I would hardly classify as cannibalism. Although some patients have permanently mutilated themselves, it is not “cannibalism” just because they may have used their teeth. The person who cut off his nose with a knife when left unattended was not participating in cannibalism. They aren’t literally feeding on their own flesh like zombies as the title might lead us to believe. For all the time Preston spent with some of these people who he grew to love, calling them cannibals for attention in a book title must have felt like a slap in the face. Although this was the most informative and fascinating chapter in the whole book, I was still left with a bitter taste in my mouth.
Of all the chapters in this book, the “cannibal” chapter was by far the most interesting to me, and of course, the most attention grabbing - but after learning what this refers to, I feel like “cannibal” is a very unfair word to use. The topic is Lesch-Nyhan Syndrome, a genetic disease that affects many aspect of a sufferer’s life. A prominent characteristic is self-harming and self-sabotaging behavior, including (but not limited to) biting off the lips and fingers - against their own will.
They are not compelled to “eat” themselves, rather they often ask to be restrained and yell for help when they feel the compulsion to hurt themselves. This behavior also displays socially, where they may reject gifts they actually want, fail on purpose when they want to succeed, and provoking anger when they want affection. I quickly understood that this trait was mental far more than it was physical, although it often manifests physically in self-harm.
For some it may be extreme nail-biting, which I would hardly classify as cannibalism. Although some patients have permanently mutilated themselves, it is not “cannibalism” just because they may have used their teeth. The person who cut off his nose with a knife when left unattended was not participating in cannibalism. They aren’t literally feeding on their own flesh like zombies as the title might lead us to believe. For all the time Preston spent with some of these people who he grew to love, calling them cannibals for attention in a book title must have felt like a slap in the face. Although this was the most informative and fascinating chapter in the whole book, I was still left with a bitter taste in my mouth.
July 6, 2020
- 3.5 stars - I assumed this was second Ebola book, but it is a couple stories compiled together from the author's experience studying and meeting people in relative fields.
I was most interested in Ebola and Lesch-Nyhan sydrome (self mutilation). Other stories include fungal disease in trees, and decimals in pi (current world record is 31 trillion digits- who knew this was a thing?!)
I was most interested in Ebola and Lesch-Nyhan sydrome (self mutilation). Other stories include fungal disease in trees, and decimals in pi (current world record is 31 trillion digits- who knew this was a thing?!)
September 10, 2026
This book is a collection of vignettes on extremely varied topics such as the nature of π, the human genome project, ebola, and self cannibalism. The last part is a disease I was wholly and blissfully unaware of. The book feels outdated and irrelevant for most part though.
November 30, 2020
Some of the info was interesting. I skimmed a lot of it. He went into minute detail over EVERYTHING. It was just too much.
July 14, 2015
I'm a fan of science writing, and with a sub-title like this one, how could I resist? I listened to the audiobook, which was well narrated by James Lurie.
The first thing to know about this collection of essays it that they were all previously published in The New Yorker, and in creating this book the author added to those original essays. And that is the biggest complaint I have about this collection - it needs tighter editing. I've no doubt that I'd have given the original essays a five star rating. This collection had some rambling sections, but I was entertained and educated and for that I'm rounding up my 3.5 rating to 4.
1. The Mountains of Pi.
This is an interesting account of eccentric genius brothers Gregroy and David Chudnovsky, who built a supercomputer from mail order parts in Gregory's apartment. The brothers are interesting for sure, but after this essay, I have a renewed respect for the fascinating number that is Pi.
2. A Death in the Forest.
When I think of extinction, I do not often think in terms of trees. This is an informative essay about the decimation of hemlocks by an insect, and some of the efforts by people trying to save the trees.
3. The Search for Ebola.
There might be a scarier way to die, but while learning about the 1994 outbreak in Kikwit, I could not think of one.
4. The Human Kabbalah.
The Human Genome Project is fascinating, and while I loved the science, I was bored by the long discourse on the political/scientific turf wars.
5. The Lost Unicorn.
The history of seven tapestries and the art and science of how they were cleaned and photographed was interesting. The brothers Chudnovsky play a role in this one too.
6. The Self-Cannibals.
This essay had me running to Google. How is it that I'd never heard of this genetic disorder before? Lesch-Nyhan affects about 1 in 400,000 births, and the symptoms are horrifying.
The first thing to know about this collection of essays it that they were all previously published in The New Yorker, and in creating this book the author added to those original essays. And that is the biggest complaint I have about this collection - it needs tighter editing. I've no doubt that I'd have given the original essays a five star rating. This collection had some rambling sections, but I was entertained and educated and for that I'm rounding up my 3.5 rating to 4.
1. The Mountains of Pi.
This is an interesting account of eccentric genius brothers Gregroy and David Chudnovsky, who built a supercomputer from mail order parts in Gregory's apartment. The brothers are interesting for sure, but after this essay, I have a renewed respect for the fascinating number that is Pi.
2. A Death in the Forest.
When I think of extinction, I do not often think in terms of trees. This is an informative essay about the decimation of hemlocks by an insect, and some of the efforts by people trying to save the trees.
3. The Search for Ebola.
There might be a scarier way to die, but while learning about the 1994 outbreak in Kikwit, I could not think of one.
4. The Human Kabbalah.
The Human Genome Project is fascinating, and while I loved the science, I was bored by the long discourse on the political/scientific turf wars.
5. The Lost Unicorn.
The history of seven tapestries and the art and science of how they were cleaned and photographed was interesting. The brothers Chudnovsky play a role in this one too.
6. The Self-Cannibals.
This essay had me running to Google. How is it that I'd never heard of this genetic disorder before? Lesch-Nyhan affects about 1 in 400,000 births, and the symptoms are horrifying.
January 21, 2020
Interesting essays on a wide variety of subjects. My favourites were the essay on the Chudnovsky brothers and their search for Pi, and the essay on Lesch-Nyhan syndrome a horrifying genetic disorder that causes its sufferers to chew off their own fingers and faces. Fascinating stuff. Three and a half stars.
June 11, 2019
This isn’t one of my favourite Richard Preston books (that’s probably the hot zone), but I do enjoy his writing style and how he writes scientific dialogue into a way that is easy to understand, but I struggled through a few bits of this book.
I have to admit; I skim read a couple of stories in this book. This is a collection of essays on various scientific subjects; and I mainly tuned in for the ones relating to viruses. At some point, I may come back and give the others more of my attention.
Favourite “stories” were blood kiss, and the introduction which details how he goes about doing his research with a few level 4 hot zone stories!
I have to admit; I skim read a couple of stories in this book. This is a collection of essays on various scientific subjects; and I mainly tuned in for the ones relating to viruses. At some point, I may come back and give the others more of my attention.
Favourite “stories” were blood kiss, and the introduction which details how he goes about doing his research with a few level 4 hot zone stories!
July 18, 2020
Very interesting
February 14, 2023
Mysteries of humanity told with warmth and compassion. Highly recommend
October 19, 2024
Kinda like a memoir, repeated itself a lot. Interesting tho
July 29, 2025
Richard Preston is the king of science writing!
February 11, 2022
Richard Preston perfected the art of writing science essays as the long-time scientific writer for the New Yorker magazine. Preston does such a great job of explaining complex science and math concepts in a manner that reasonably intelligent laypeople can grasp. This collection of 6 essays explores subjects as diverse as the quest for expounding pi to two billion digits, Ground Zero of an Ebola breakout in Zaire, and the quest to save American hemlock from a Chinese aphid. All engrossingly interesting. A great read on math and science topics.
March 2, 2011
Some interesting reading here, but doesn't read like a suspense thriller like Preston's Hot Zone and other works. Found myself mired in too much detail at times... even bored at times. In addition, some of it is very sad when he talks about hemlock trees going extinct and people who are driven to cannibalize themselves. But I'm not sorry I read the book.
October 29, 2026
This book of essays felt a bit disconnected for me. I would have preferred a couple of shorter books focused on infectious diseases, the human genome project and rare genetic diseases, and environmental catastrophes. Interesting listen though.
October 6, 2020
This is a compilation of article-length pieces Mr. Preston has written on a variety of subjects, not just medical science. Each article is interesting, but without a cohesive thread, the book is weaker than his other three nonfiction books, each of which is excellent.
May 28, 2022
I feel, Author becomes deeply engaging only when he talk about Viruses, other subjects are just reporting.
July 2, 2024
Really enjoyed how a few people appeared across chapters and topics. What a small, wonderfully weird world!
August 4, 2024
If you have read the hot zone you can skip this one. Essentially everything that didn’t make it into that book.
December 31, 2009
Not quite what I expected when I picked up this non-fiction audiobook from the library, but it was still an interesting read. I guess by the title I was expecting hysteria, but it felt more like random stories threaded together loosely by a journalist. Subjects covered in the book include:
1. How to take notes inside a Level 4 Containment Area when you can’t write on paper (No panic! The story of a malfunctioning zipper). Listening to this section of the audiobook reminded me of scenes from the movie OUTBREAK where Dustin Hoffman runs around in his special protective suit and feeds IV tubes filled with orange juice into patients’ veins. Okay, so it wasn’t really orange juice – it just looked like it to me. Find the monkey!!!!!! Love that movie and all its cheesy goodness.
2. Inside a supercomputer built in a NYC apartment - convergence on transcendental π (mathematics as both an art and a madness – can we see God in π?). I was not anticipating nearly an hour of the audiobook be dedicated to the hunt for pi. Happily, I minored in Mathematics in college, so it wasn’t too painful for me in the end, even if it reminded me of how crazy academics can be in reality and brought back flashbacks of a computer science professor who slowly drove me insane with theories of computation *shiver*. The other thing I got out of reading this section of the book is how very un-intelligent I am in reality. Always good to read about the minds of others to bring yourself down several pegs! I can’t imagine building a supercomputer in my apartment with things I purchased from Home Depot. Then again, I wouldn’t know how to construct a supercomputer to begin with – hardware has never been my forte.
3. Tree-climbing to save the Hemlock tree (release the Japanese beetles!!!!!) The journalist was following a guy whose job it was to climb and measure trees. How do you stumble into that job? It seems like a kid’s dream – “Mom… When I grow up, I’m going to climb trees for a living”. Okay, so I’m sure he probably has a biology or botany degree and does things other than just climb trees. Still! Sounds like fun to the ex-camp-counselor in me :) I also had no idea you could buy cups of beetles for thousands of dollars. You learn something new everyday, I guess.
4. Ebola inside an African Hospital in the 1970s (don’t immediately wipe the tears off your own face with the same handkerchief you use to wipe the face of an Ebola victim). I found the story of the hospital that had an X-ray machine, but didn’t have running water or bedpans to be interesting. The author mentioned that the patients’ families would bring in a clay pot for the patients’ waste. EEK!
5. Patenting DNA and mapping the human genome (clustering of micro-biologists near the NIH … don’t let thieves steal your gene code when you’re not looking) . Anyone who remembers the stock-market bubble at the turn of this century will likely interest from this story.
6. Colors of the Medieval unicorn tapestries that haven’t seen sunlight in hundreds of years (bring out the mathematicians to help with digital imaging and discover that the tapestry is moving and alive). Number theory and colors. Billions of calculations to figure out colors for reproductions of art. Hmmmm. Completely unrelated thought -- whenever I play the boardgame Balderdash, I always feel a need to have a definition for one of the words as “a rare form of Medieval tapestry”, though usually slightly more intellectual sounding in its definition. It used to work at fooling people, but my family and friends have caught on, so no luck with that anymore. Oh well! I don’t play Balderdash very often, so I can’t help slipping it in everytime I play.
7. Putting Poe’s “imp of the perverse” to sleep – studying genetic disorders/diseases (you found what in that diaper????). These poor children the author talked about in this section of the book. So sad. Can you imagine being a parent where you child seems like he is slowly chewing himself to death? :( :( :( I hope the researchers can find a cure! A grown man with the disorder had to ask the reporter with a mechanical pencil to step away from him because he was worried the disease would compel him to grab and stab himself in the eye with it. A compulsive urge to hurt yourself with your own hands and mouth… I can’t even imagine.
1. How to take notes inside a Level 4 Containment Area when you can’t write on paper (No panic! The story of a malfunctioning zipper). Listening to this section of the audiobook reminded me of scenes from the movie OUTBREAK where Dustin Hoffman runs around in his special protective suit and feeds IV tubes filled with orange juice into patients’ veins. Okay, so it wasn’t really orange juice – it just looked like it to me. Find the monkey!!!!!! Love that movie and all its cheesy goodness.
2. Inside a supercomputer built in a NYC apartment - convergence on transcendental π (mathematics as both an art and a madness – can we see God in π?). I was not anticipating nearly an hour of the audiobook be dedicated to the hunt for pi. Happily, I minored in Mathematics in college, so it wasn’t too painful for me in the end, even if it reminded me of how crazy academics can be in reality and brought back flashbacks of a computer science professor who slowly drove me insane with theories of computation *shiver*. The other thing I got out of reading this section of the book is how very un-intelligent I am in reality. Always good to read about the minds of others to bring yourself down several pegs! I can’t imagine building a supercomputer in my apartment with things I purchased from Home Depot. Then again, I wouldn’t know how to construct a supercomputer to begin with – hardware has never been my forte.
3. Tree-climbing to save the Hemlock tree (release the Japanese beetles!!!!!) The journalist was following a guy whose job it was to climb and measure trees. How do you stumble into that job? It seems like a kid’s dream – “Mom… When I grow up, I’m going to climb trees for a living”. Okay, so I’m sure he probably has a biology or botany degree and does things other than just climb trees. Still! Sounds like fun to the ex-camp-counselor in me :) I also had no idea you could buy cups of beetles for thousands of dollars. You learn something new everyday, I guess.
4. Ebola inside an African Hospital in the 1970s (don’t immediately wipe the tears off your own face with the same handkerchief you use to wipe the face of an Ebola victim). I found the story of the hospital that had an X-ray machine, but didn’t have running water or bedpans to be interesting. The author mentioned that the patients’ families would bring in a clay pot for the patients’ waste. EEK!
5. Patenting DNA and mapping the human genome (clustering of micro-biologists near the NIH … don’t let thieves steal your gene code when you’re not looking) . Anyone who remembers the stock-market bubble at the turn of this century will likely interest from this story.
6. Colors of the Medieval unicorn tapestries that haven’t seen sunlight in hundreds of years (bring out the mathematicians to help with digital imaging and discover that the tapestry is moving and alive). Number theory and colors. Billions of calculations to figure out colors for reproductions of art. Hmmmm. Completely unrelated thought -- whenever I play the boardgame Balderdash, I always feel a need to have a definition for one of the words as “a rare form of Medieval tapestry”, though usually slightly more intellectual sounding in its definition. It used to work at fooling people, but my family and friends have caught on, so no luck with that anymore. Oh well! I don’t play Balderdash very often, so I can’t help slipping it in everytime I play.
7. Putting Poe’s “imp of the perverse” to sleep – studying genetic disorders/diseases (you found what in that diaper????). These poor children the author talked about in this section of the book. So sad. Can you imagine being a parent where you child seems like he is slowly chewing himself to death? :( :( :( I hope the researchers can find a cure! A grown man with the disorder had to ask the reporter with a mechanical pencil to step away from him because he was worried the disease would compel him to grab and stab himself in the eye with it. A compulsive urge to hurt yourself with your own hands and mouth… I can’t even imagine.
September 1, 2020
If I had read a physical copy of this I would probably give it 2 stars, because there were some interesting parts, but listening to the audiobook was... not a good experience.
The author jumps around so much within stories it was hard to keep track of any timeline. Also, most of the essays have almost nothing to do with each other. The essay about the unicorn tapestries talks about the Chudnovsky brothers again, who were the main focus of the first two chapters, but reintroduces them as if the reader has no idea who they are. It was weird. There was a lot of unnecessary info, like, the author keeps talking about his mechanical pencil, and the socks that this guy wears, and just.... why??? It's just not relevant.
I found the narration weird and boring. The narrator puts on voices and accents when reading quotations, and in the last chapter specifically, when reading quotes from interviews with a man with Lesch–Nyhan syndrome, he puts on a "mentally challenged" voice that REALLY didn't sit right with me. Like, excuse me???? How the hell is that okay?
So yeah... do not recommend.
The author jumps around so much within stories it was hard to keep track of any timeline. Also, most of the essays have almost nothing to do with each other. The essay about the unicorn tapestries talks about the Chudnovsky brothers again, who were the main focus of the first two chapters, but reintroduces them as if the reader has no idea who they are. It was weird. There was a lot of unnecessary info, like, the author keeps talking about his mechanical pencil, and the socks that this guy wears, and just.... why??? It's just not relevant.
I found the narration weird and boring. The narrator puts on voices and accents when reading quotations, and in the last chapter specifically, when reading quotes from interviews with a man with Lesch–Nyhan syndrome, he puts on a "mentally challenged" voice that REALLY didn't sit right with me. Like, excuse me???? How the hell is that okay?
So yeah... do not recommend.
December 10, 2008
This book contains a collection of essays originally published in The New Yorker. It made for an interesting read but at times it become repetitive as a few of the essays were on related things and so necessitated the same basic background information which I'm sure was useful when they were originally published over several issues but became merely annoying when read in quick succession.
The introduction is an essay itself, and the only one to take place inside USAMRIID's Level 4. It reminded me a little of Outbreak. It was fascinating to learn about some of the safety precautions, and more than a little unnerving to realize that even in Level 4 there's still some amount of old, worn out equipment that still gets used. This introductory essay was far more interesting than a later, shorter essay on two strains of Ebola.
I thought the most interesting parts of the books were those that dealt with the Chudnovsky brothers. The brothers are mathematicians who also make supercomputers from mail order parts. The supercomputer in the first essay, m-zero, was used to calculate pi to over 2 billion places. The second computer, Home-Depot Thing, or It, was used to reconstruct one of the unicorn tapestries.
The essay on trees wasn't particularly interesting. Yes, we keep importing bugs that kill native trees. It's not a particularly new topic and Preston didn't really have anything to add to it.
The essay on the race to sequence the human genome was slightly more interesting.
The section on the self-cannibalism disease was both fascinating and deeply disturbing. This has to be one of the most difficult diseases to live with. It's one thing if you can't trust your body not to fail, something else to not be able to trust your body not to physically attack you and cause you tremendous pain.
The introduction is an essay itself, and the only one to take place inside USAMRIID's Level 4. It reminded me a little of Outbreak. It was fascinating to learn about some of the safety precautions, and more than a little unnerving to realize that even in Level 4 there's still some amount of old, worn out equipment that still gets used. This introductory essay was far more interesting than a later, shorter essay on two strains of Ebola.
I thought the most interesting parts of the books were those that dealt with the Chudnovsky brothers. The brothers are mathematicians who also make supercomputers from mail order parts. The supercomputer in the first essay, m-zero, was used to calculate pi to over 2 billion places. The second computer, Home-Depot Thing, or It, was used to reconstruct one of the unicorn tapestries.
The essay on trees wasn't particularly interesting. Yes, we keep importing bugs that kill native trees. It's not a particularly new topic and Preston didn't really have anything to add to it.
The essay on the race to sequence the human genome was slightly more interesting.
The section on the self-cannibalism disease was both fascinating and deeply disturbing. This has to be one of the most difficult diseases to live with. It's one thing if you can't trust your body not to fail, something else to not be able to trust your body not to physically attack you and cause you tremendous pain.
January 6, 2015
Fine. I really enjoyed the chapter on the brother mathematicians looking at pi. I don't know if it was the voice of the narrator on the audiobook or the intention of the author, but sometimes I heard it as "pie." Mountains of pie. Filled with pie. I liked that. The idea of pi is so interesting and so absorbing: what DOES it mean? Can we humans know? What if they're right and even the most powerful computer, comprised of nearly the entire known universe, couldn't get enough numbers or calculations to find its pattern? What about the eight 8s in a row? What about the time it goes 123456789? In addition, the idea that the brothers are one mathematician occupying two bodies is so interesting--especially given their inability to find permanent work, despite their brilliance. They seem to do all right, though: both have wives that sound too good for them (just because they're brilliant but sort of cantankerous, obsessive, and spending all the wives' money), and they are brilliant and well-known and they DO have jobs, just not prestigious ones. The whole idea of them teaching university classes is laughable, though, given the health of the one and the obsessions of both--they'd forget to go to class.
The chapter on self-cannibals was interesting and horrible. I thought Preston did a good job of humanizing the men who live with this disease, but as soon as he started ruminating on how we all have self-destructive streaks, he lost me. It's not that he's wrong, just that he used their story as a jumping off point to begin some insights for which he is out of his depth and provided little evidence, other than saying "let's turn up the volume." And I need to stop chewing my lip corners and cuticles, although women almost never get the disease and I think by now I'd know if I had it.
P.S. I've got to see the unicorn tapestries in New York.
The chapter on self-cannibals was interesting and horrible. I thought Preston did a good job of humanizing the men who live with this disease, but as soon as he started ruminating on how we all have self-destructive streaks, he lost me. It's not that he's wrong, just that he used their story as a jumping off point to begin some insights for which he is out of his depth and provided little evidence, other than saying "let's turn up the volume." And I need to stop chewing my lip corners and cuticles, although women almost never get the disease and I think by now I'd know if I had it.
P.S. I've got to see the unicorn tapestries in New York.
May 25, 2018
To be clear from the outset, Preston's book is more a compilation of six stories or articles, loosely tied together under the banner of the phrase "Level 4." An extensive introduction sets what he hopes will be a unifying theme over diverse story lines.
In the first chapter he introduces us to two nerdy guys, the Chudnovsky brothers, who create a super computer in their Manhattan apartment to determine billions of digits of pi (heads up, this is almost 25% of the book...it's looooong).
In the second, he talks more about trees and how big they can get on the East coast, and how a little pest, the wooly adelgids, can destroy an entire species.
In the third, we learn about Ebola, and the brave men and women on the fronts lines at its emergence in Africa and beyond. This ended up being my favorite chapter.
In the fourth chapter, it's about the private and public efforts to decode the human genome.
In the fifth we learn about some 15th century tapestries that deal with unicorns.
The sixth chapter dealt with the rare condition called Lesch-Nyan syndrome and those who suffer with it. I found this chapter entirely distasteful and bordering on the literary equivalent of the parading around of 'freaks.' There was almost zero empathy for the sufferers of this condition who self-mutilate and physically hurt those around them, and it left me with such a bad taste in my mouth.
All in all Level 4 felt more like, "Hey, I've got some stories that don't fit into my book about this topic, but maybe I can parlay them into a book." Sadly, he did that, and rather than a book, Preston has produced a contrived thesis with a heartless final chapter.
In the first chapter he introduces us to two nerdy guys, the Chudnovsky brothers, who create a super computer in their Manhattan apartment to determine billions of digits of pi (heads up, this is almost 25% of the book...it's looooong).
In the second, he talks more about trees and how big they can get on the East coast, and how a little pest, the wooly adelgids, can destroy an entire species.
In the third, we learn about Ebola, and the brave men and women on the fronts lines at its emergence in Africa and beyond. This ended up being my favorite chapter.
In the fourth chapter, it's about the private and public efforts to decode the human genome.
In the fifth we learn about some 15th century tapestries that deal with unicorns.
The sixth chapter dealt with the rare condition called Lesch-Nyan syndrome and those who suffer with it. I found this chapter entirely distasteful and bordering on the literary equivalent of the parading around of 'freaks.' There was almost zero empathy for the sufferers of this condition who self-mutilate and physically hurt those around them, and it left me with such a bad taste in my mouth.
All in all Level 4 felt more like, "Hey, I've got some stories that don't fit into my book about this topic, but maybe I can parlay them into a book." Sadly, he did that, and rather than a book, Preston has produced a contrived thesis with a heartless final chapter.
June 6, 2015
Disappointed does not even begin to explain how let down I was by this book. I was expecting interesting, slightly disgusting and disturbing stories about viruses that had ravaged people, similar to Preston's book the Hot Zone. Man did this ever fall short. While the 'stories' are actually essays which means they are written in a totally different style, which some people may consider the first point of contention, the MAJOR point of contention for me is that not all the essays are related to matters involving issues that would be considered a biosafety level 4 issue.
Ie. The Mountains of Pi - is about 2 guys trying to find the ending numbers for Pi....
A Death in the Forest - is about a bug native to China that is killing Hemlock trees in North America....
Blood Kiss- is about Ebola (which is a biosafety level 4 infectious disease so that fits the title)
The Human Kabbalah - is about reading human genomes and determining what is missing etc......
The Lost Unicorn - is about the Unicorn Tapestries from the 1800's and their preservation....
The Self-Cannibals - is about Lesch Nyhan disease while not biosafety threat quite interesting
So now that I have named what the essays are about are you wondering why, as I am, the book is titled to be more scary then it really is.
WHY RICHARD PRESTON WHY!!!
Ie. The Mountains of Pi - is about 2 guys trying to find the ending numbers for Pi....
A Death in the Forest - is about a bug native to China that is killing Hemlock trees in North America....
Blood Kiss- is about Ebola (which is a biosafety level 4 infectious disease so that fits the title)
The Human Kabbalah - is about reading human genomes and determining what is missing etc......
The Lost Unicorn - is about the Unicorn Tapestries from the 1800's and their preservation....
The Self-Cannibals - is about Lesch Nyhan disease while not biosafety threat quite interesting
So now that I have named what the essays are about are you wondering why, as I am, the book is titled to be more scary then it really is.
WHY RICHARD PRESTON WHY!!!
June 25, 2009
I hadn't read any of the shorter versions of these stories in the New Yorker, so these were all completely new to me. I enjoyed this book immensely. Preston writes with ease and threads his personal touch through the scientific details about which he writes, ultimately setting a tone of a certain intimacy that usual scientific discussions tend to avoid. He writes these stories as though he were writing a biography, not as a science minded person bent on scientific instruction and tedious detail. A note of caution - I don't think this book is for the scientifically disinclined. It isn't written at a high level that could be taxing on the brain, but it is still just a collection of stories about scientific aberrations and isn't as "exciting" as the title seems to imply. That being said, those who are interested in the science of different topics (Ebola and the self-cannibals were my favorites) would probably find this book interesting and well worth reading.
Nerds rule! ;)
Nerds rule! ;)
September 4, 2013
A very interesting hodgepodge of scientific essays (written entirely for the layman) covering a range of mostly unrelated topics. Preston excels at putting a personal face on each aspect of scientific inquiry by devoting the greater part of each narrative to the people involved (whether directly or indirectly) with pushing science forward. In other words, this book is not simply a cold regurgitation of facts the author picked up throughout his research. Preston writes from personal experience wherever possible, and his writing style is closer to that of a journalist. The only downside to this book is that these essays were not originally intended to be published together, so there is a lot of overlap as Preston reiterates information already covered in previous essays.
December 30, 2008
This book confused me a bit. I picked ti up because of the title and that it was Richard Preston (Hot Zone, Demon in the Freezer, Cobra Event). It looked like another cool book about hot viruses. And part of it was. The other parts didnt seem to fit: men building a supercomputer to compute pi in their apt., A pest that is killing the Eastern Hemlock trees, then there was a story about an ebola outbreak. Also a story about the human genome project and a horrifying story about a disease that causes sufferers to cannibalize themselves.
All was really well written. Preston has a talent for making people "real".
Overall, I did enjoy the book, but I still feel disjointed a bit.
All was really well written. Preston has a talent for making people "real".
Overall, I did enjoy the book, but I still feel disjointed a bit.
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