Thank you, Charles, for the book recommendation!
It's been several years, - but I finally got to read this book:
"Parasite Rex : Inside the Bizarre World of Nature's Most Dangerous
Creatures" by Carl Zimmer.
I haven't finished it yet, - still reading, but I especially enjoyed the
first chapter with the excursion into the history of parasites in
connection to the societal ideas.
And yes, the content is rather creepy, especially for people who are not
medical doctors, viriologists, parasitologists, etc...
Several years ago, in my work, I interacted with a group who were experts
on bacteriophages or phages. I was fascinated by the description how those
function. But those didn't sound as gruesome as parasites.
The biological reality of parasites is much more horrific than any horror
movie I've seen (but I probably haven't seen the worst ones). If one
would've made some of the descriptions of parasites' life into visuals
(a la Spielberg's movies), it would've been called the most gruesome
movie.
Charles,
By the way, there is a newer book by the same author:
"A Planet of Viruses"
https://www.worldcat.org/title/planet-of-viruses/oclc/660161984
I don't know if you've read it or not yet.
I haven't gotten my hands on it yet...
Cheers,
Igor
Date: Mon, 14 Mar 2011 14:31:21 -0500
From: Charles Robinson <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: OT: This is totally creepy
On Mar 14, 2011, at 13:58, Igor Roshchin wrote:
Once you think about the role of the micro-organisms (bacteria, virri)
in our body, you can realize that
humans are micro-organisms-controlled robots.
And illness is just an intense fight between different groups of those
micro-organisms.
Ever since I realized that a few years ago, I've been curious why there
are no sci-fi books (or movies) that use this scenario..
... it's quite possible that I simply missed them.
A fascinating book on the subject: "Parasite Rex : Inside the Bizarre
World of
Nature's Most Dangerous Creatures" by Carl Zimmer.
Creepy, creepy stuff.
-Charles
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