Description

‘An extraordinary history of the perils and promise of every breath we take’ – James Nestor, New York Times bestselling author of Breath

‘Another brilliant work from one of the very best science writers, Air-Borne will leave you agog at the incredible world that floats unseen around us’ – Ed Yong, New York Times bestselling author of An Immense World

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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.

In Air-Borne, award-winning New York Times columnist and Baillie Gifford-shortlisted author Carl Zimmer leads us on an odyssey through the living atmosphere and through the history of its discovery. From NASA scientists conducting trailblazing experiments in the sky, to governments building clandestine arsenals of biological airborne weapons, Air-Borne prompts us to look at the world with fresh eyes.

Weaving together spellbinding history with the latest reporting on airborne threats to global health, this masterwork makes visible an invisible world.

Publisher Review

An extraordinary history of the perils and promise of every breath we take — James Nestor, bestselling author of Breath Another brilliant work from one of the very best science writers, Air-Borne will leave you agog at the incredible world that floats unseen around us — Ed Yong, bestselling author of An Immense World Carl Zimmer details the long history of studying microbes in the air and explains why that science got derailed. It’s a fascinating and also cautionary tale — Walter Isaacson, bestselling author of The Code Breaker A detailed and gripping account — Robert Sullivan * The New York Times * Carl Zimmer has produced the most definitive book on aerobiology that I have read. This is a timely study given that the next pandemic is also very likely to be airborne — Prof. Luke O’Neill, author of To Boldly Go Where No Book Has Gone Before A riveting and vital history of the microbes that drift through the ocean of air within which we all live. From the invisible biosphere high above the clouds to pandemics that shake global civilisation, this fascinating story will take your breath away. I look forward to each of Zimmer’s new books, and this certainly doesn’t disappoint — Prof. Lewis Dartnell, author of Being Human With Zimmer’s usual superb writing, [Air-Borne] is a page-turner filled with fascinating science, visionary scientists who were often completely wrong, and poignant moments reflecting the vast human suffering caused by such microbes . . . deeply important and unsettling — Robert Sapolsky, New York Times bestselling author of Determined Carl Zimmer has a knack for seeing the small things but thinking big. Air-Borne is full of fascinations at both levels. From the first page, you know you’re in the hands of a master — David Quammen, New York Times bestselling author of Breathless Through his signature in-depth reporting and lively narrative stories, [Zimmer] shows us what a dynamic force our air is, profoundly shaping our health and evolutionary history. Air-Borne is also an urgent call to understand the invisible species floating around us, so that we don’t make the same mistakes in the next public-health crisis that we face — Sam Kean, author of Caesar’s Last Breath Carl Zimmer transforms [this] topic into something that reads like a combination of detective and horror stories . . . a highly relevant and gripping history of the study of the air * Associated Press * This meticulously researched tome is . . . a comprehensive primer on [aerobiology] . . . the most comprehensive scientific history of COVID-19 that I have read . . . riveting — Nathan H Lents, Science Carl Zimmer is a master of science writing . . . From the realisation that the skies swim with more than just clouds, to debates over disease transmission and responses to Covid-19, this book shows us how the contents of air can both connect us, and divide us. Zimmer’s prose on eager pollen, global viruses and transatlantic ash leaves you wondering just what might have flown up your nose in the time it takes you to read each chapter — Dr Elsa Panciroli, author of The Earth: A Biography of Life