New Releases by Carl Zimmer

The fascinating, untold story of the air we breathe, the hidden life it contains, and 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 over two years for scientists to finally agree that the Covid pandemic was caused by an airborne virus. In Air-Borne, award-winning New York Times columnist and author Carl Zimmer leads us on an odyssey through the living atmosphere and through 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 Covid and other threats to global health, Air-Borne surprises us on every page as it reveals the hidden world of the air.

Award-winning writer, columnist, and journalists Carl Zimmer selects twenty science and nature essays that represent the best examples of the form published in 2022. “What''s most compelling about a scientific story is the way it challenges us to think about the concepts we take for granted,” writes guest editor Carl Zimmer in his introduction. The essays in this year’s Best American Science and Nature Writing probe at the ordinary and urge us to think more deeply about our place in the world around us. From a hopeful portrait of a future for people with Alzheimer’s disease, to a fascinating exploration of the rise of nearsightedness in children, to the heroic story of a herd of cows that evaded a hurricane, these selections reveal how science and nature shape our everyday lives. With tremendous intelligence, clarity, and insight, this anthology offers an expansive look at where we are and where we are headed. The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2023 includes JESSICA CAMILLE AGUIRRE • VANESSA GREGORY • SABRINA IMBLER FERRIS JABR • MARION RENAULT • ELIZABETH SVOBODA NATALIE WOLCHOVER • SARAH ZHANG and others

Charles Darwin desempeñó un papel crucial a la hora de convertir la herencia en una cuestión científica y, sin embargo, fracasó estrepitosamente a la hora de responderla. El nacimiento de la genética, a principios del siglo XX, pareció hacer precisamente eso. Poco a poco la gente tradujo sus antiguas nociones sobre la herencia a un lenguaje de genes. A medida que la tecnología para el estudio de los genes se abarató, millones de personas pidieron pruebas genéticas para relacionarse con padres desaparecidos, con antepasados lejanos, con identidades étnicas... Pero, escribe Zimmer, "cada uno de nosotros es portador de una amalgama de fragmentos de ADN, cosidos a partir de algunos de nuestros muchos antepasados. Cada pieza tiene su propia ascendencia, recorriendo un camino diferente a través de la historia de la humanidad. Un fragmento concreto puede ser a veces motivo de preocupación, pero la mayor parte de nuestro ADN influye en lo que somos -nuestro aspecto, nuestra estatura, nuestras inclinaciones- de maneras inconcebiblemente sutiles". La herencia no se limita a los genes que pasan de padres a hijos. La herencia continúa dentro de nuestro propio cuerpo, ya que una sola célula da lugar a trillones de células que conforman nuestro cuerpo. Decimos que heredamos los genes de nuestros antepasados -utilizando una palabra que antaño se refería a reinos y haciendas-, pero heredamos otras cosas que importan tanto o más para nuestras vidas, desde los microbios hasta las tecnologías que utilizamos para hacer la vida más cómoda. Necesitamos una nueva definición de lo que es la herencia y, a través de la lúcida exposición y narración de Carl Zimmer, este resonante tour de force nos la proporciona. Entrelazando investigaciones científicas históricas y actuales, su propia experiencia con sus dos hijas y el tipo de reportaje original que se espera de uno de los mejores periodistas científicos del mundo, Zimmer acaba por desentrañar los urgentes dilemas bioéticos que surgen de las nuevas tecnologías biomédicas, pero también las antiguas presunciones sobre quiénes somos realmente y qué podemos transmitir a las generaciones futuras.

Em 2020, um germe invisível – um vírus – destruiu totalmente nossas vidas. Estamos mais familiarizados com os vírus que nos causam resfriados ou, mais recentemente, covid-19. Mas eles também provocam uma vasta gama de outras doenças, incluindo um distúrbio que faz as pessoas germinarem como árvores. Os vírus fazem parte de nossas vidas há tanto tempo que, na verdade, somos parte vírus: o genoma humano contém mais DNA de vírus do que nossos próprios genes. Enquanto isso, cientistas estão descobrindo vírus em todos os lugares: no solo, no oceano, até mesmo em cavernas profundas a quilômetros de profundidade. Em PLANETA DE VÍRUS, Carl Zimmer, professor da Universidade de Yale e colunista do The New York Times, retira o véu sobre este mundo oculto de modo acessível e elegante. Ele apresenta as pesquisas mais recentes sobre como os vírus controlam nossas vidas e nossa biosfera – incluindo a atual pandemia –, como ajudaram a dar origem às primeiras formas de vida, como estão produzindo novas doenças, como podemos controlá-los para nossos próprios fins e como continuarão a ser parte fundamental da existência da humanidade.

FINALIST AL PREMIULUI BAILLIE GIFFORD PENTRU NONFICȚIUNE 2018 Ca două picături de apă prezintă o perspectivă profund originală asupra a ceea ce transmitem de la o generație la alta. Charles Darwin a jucat un rol crucial în transformarea eredității într-o problemă științifică, dar, cu toate acestea, tentativa sa de a oferi un răspuns s-a soldat cu un eșec spectaculos. Nașterea geneticii la începutul anilor 1900 a părut să facă exact asta. Treptat, oamenii și-au tradus vechile noțiuni despre ereditate în limbajul genelor. Pe măsură ce tehnologia de studiere a genelor a devenit mai ieftină, milioane de oameni și-au comandat teste genetice care să îi aducă aproape de părinți lipsă, de strămoși îndepărtați, de identități etnice... Dar, ne spune Zimmer, ereditatea nu se referă doar la genele care trec de la părinte la copil. Ereditatea continuă în corpul nostru, pe măsură ce o singură celulă se transformă în miliarde de celule care ne formează trupul. Spunem că moștenim gene de la strămoșii noștri – folosind un cuvânt care se referea pe vremuri la moșii și regate –, dar moștenim și alte lucruri care înseamnă la fel de mult sau mai mult pentru viața noastră, de la microbi la tehnologiile pe care le folosim pentru a ne face viața mai ușoară. Avem nevoie de o nouă definiție a eredității și, prin intermediul explicațiilor elocvente și al talentului de povestitor al lui Carl Zimmer, acest volum, adevărat tur de forță, ne-o oferă. Împletind cercetări științifice vechi și actuale, propria experiență cu cele două fiice ale sale și tipul de relatare jurnalistică de așteptat de la unul dintre cei mai buni ziariști de știință, Zimmer dezvăluie întrebări referitoare la bioetică ce au nevoie urgentă de răspunsuri de la noile tehnologii biomedicale, dar și ipoteze cunoscute despre cine suntem cu adevărat și despre ce putem transmite viitoarelor generații. „Minunat scrisă... O carte fascinantă.“ The Times „Nuanțată, antrenantă și oferind un echilibru perfect între povestire și știință... Cine este interesat în parcursul lui prin istorie și de ce poate lăsa în urmă va găsi multe lucruri interesante în aceste pagini.“ New Scientist „Fascinantă... Inteligent convingătoare.“ Observer „Extraordinară... Această carte îl reprezintă pe Zimmer cu ce poate face cel mai bine: să combată concepțiile greșite despre știință cu blândețe, prin proză.“ New York Review of Books „De ce seamănă copiii cu părinții și cu frații lor, dar, cu toate acestea, sunt diferiți unul de altul?... Fascinant... Cartea lui Zimmer este o modalitate excelentă de a te pune rapid la curent cu ultimele noutăți.“ Washington Post CARL ZIMMER este scriitor și editorialist cunoscut de știință popularizată, relatând despre cercetările avansate din biologie. Din 2013 este editorialist la New York Times. Ține prelegeri la universități, școli medicale, muzee și festivaluri și este o prezență obișnuită în programe radio. În 2016, Zimmer a câștigat Premiul Stephen Jay Gould, decernat anual de Societatea pentru Studiul Evoluției ca modalitate de recunoaștere a indivizilor ale căror eforturi susținute au dus la creșterea înțelegerii publicului în ceea ce privește știința evoluționistă. Zimmer este autorul a 12 cărți despre știință, pe subiecte de la virusuri la neuroștiință și evoluție.

FINALIST FOR THE PEN/E.O. WILSON LITERARY SCIENCE WRITING AWARD***A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF 2021***A SCIENCE NEWS FAVORITE BOOK OF 2021***A SMITHSONIAN TOP TEN SCIENCE BOOK OF 2021 “Stories that both dazzle and edify… This book is not just about life, but about discovery itself.” —Siddhartha Mukherjee, New York Times Book Review We all assume we know what life is, but the more scientists learn about the living world—from protocells to brains, from zygotes to pandemic viruses—the harder they find it is to locate life’s edge. Carl Zimmer investigates one of the biggest questions of all: What is life? The answer seems obvious until you try to seriously answer it. Is the apple sitting on your kitchen counter alive, or is only the apple tree it came from deserving of the word? If we can’t answer that question here on earth, how will we know when and if we discover alien life on other worlds? The question hangs over some of society’s most charged conflicts—whether a fertilized egg is a living person, for example, and when we ought to declare a person legally dead. Life''s Edge is an utterly fascinating investigation that no one but one of the most celebrated science writers of our generation could craft. Zimmer journeys through the strange experiments that have attempted to re-create life. Literally hundreds of definitions of what that should look like now exist, but none has yet emerged as an obvious winner. Lists of what living things have in common do not add up to a theory of life. It''s never clear why some items on the list are essential and others not. Coronaviruses have altered the course of history, and yet many scientists maintain they are not alive. Chemists are creating droplets that can swarm, sense their environment, and multiply. Have they made life in the lab? Whether he is handling pythons in Alabama or searching for hibernating bats in the Adirondacks, Zimmer revels in astounding examples of life at its most bizarre. He tries his own hand at evolving life in a test tube with unnerving results. Charting the obsession with Dr. Frankenstein''s monster and how the world briefly believed radium was the source of all life, Zimmer leads us all the way into the labs and minds of researchers engineering life from scratch.

Durante años los científicos nos han estado advirtiendo que una pandemia era casi inevitable. Ahora está aquí y el resto de nosotros tenemos mucho que aprender. Un planeta de virus presenta la investigación más reciente sobre cómo los virus dominan nuestras vidas y nuestra biosfera. Las explicaciones lúcidas de Zimmer y sus fascinantes historias demuestran cuán profundamente están entrelazados los humanos y los virus. Éstos ayudaron a dar lugar a las primeras formas de vida, son responsables de muchas de nuestras enfermedades más devastadoras y continuarán controlando nuestro destino durante siglos. Completamente legible y, a pesar de su honestidad acerca de las amenazas, tan tranquilizador como aterrador, es un fascinante recorrido por un mundo que todos necesitamos comprender mejor.

Je ogen heb je van je vader. Je lach van je moeder. Maar waarom verschillen jullie zo in lengte? En is intelligentie ook erfelijk?Sinds het menselijk genoom in kaart is gebracht, weten we: de mens is opgebouwd uit een mozaïek van DNA dat we van onze voorouders hebben meegekregen. Wie we zijn, wordt voor een groot deel door deze kleine stukjes bepaald. Maar we erven niet alleen onze bouwstenen, maar ook microben, gedrag en technologieën.Dat we weten hoe we onze genen moeten lezen, betekent ook dat we ze kunnen manipuleren. We zetten niet alleen de wereld naar onze hand, maar ook onszelf. Ook onze toekomst, zowel voor de mens als soort als voor onszelf, staat in ons DNA geschreven. Wij zijn onze genen.Carl Zimmer neemt ons mee op een reis door onze genen. Wie zijn we? Waar komen we vandaan? Hoe zijn we geworden wie we nu zijn? En hoe ziet onze toekomst eruit? Ze heeft haar moeders lach is het alomvattende verhaal over wat we krijgen van onze voorouders, wat we doorgeven aan onze kinderen en over mens zijn.Over Ze heeft haar moeders lach''Een briljante publicatie'' - NBD Biblion

Desde las junglas húmedas de Costa Rica hasta el fétido entorno de las zonas rebeldes del sur de Sudán, Carl Zimmer nos guía a través de un viaje por el universo de los parásitos, un mundo en el que habitamos sin ser conscientes. Nos descubre que no solo son las formas de vida más exitosas de la Tierra, sino que favorecen el desarrollo del sexo, dan forma a los ecosistemas y son el motor de la evolución. Zimmer muestra cuánto han evolucionado estos organismos y describe la aterradora facilidad con que pueden devorar a sus hospedadores e incluso controlar su conducta, como el siniestro Sacculina carcini, que se establece en un desafortunado cangrejo y devora todo menos aquello que su anfitrión necesita para llevarse comida a la boca, que será consumida por él; o la criatura unicelular Toxoplasma gondii, que puede invadir el cerebro humano e influir en su conducta para asegurarse su supervivencia. Para Zimmer, la humanidad en sí misma es una nueva clase de parásito que se aprovecha de todo el planeta. Por tanto, si vamos a alcanzar toda la sofisticación que caracteriza a estas formas de vida, si vamos a fomentar el florecimiento de la vida en toda su diversidad tal como hacen ellos, debemos aprender cómo convive la naturaleza consigo misma, entender las leyes que rigen el extraño mundo de las criaturas más peligrosas de la naturaleza.

At the beginning of Europe''s turbulent seventeenth century, no one knew how the brain worked. By the century''s close, the science of the brain had taken root, helping to overturn many common misconceptions about the human body as well as to unseat centuries-old philosophies of man and God. Presiding over this evolution was the founder of modern neurology, Thomas Willis, a fascinating, sympathetic, even heroic figure who stands at the centre of an extraordinary group of scientists and philosophers known as the ''Oxford circle''. Chronicled here in vivid detail are their groundbreaking revelations and often gory experiments that first enshrined the brain as the chemical engine of reason, emotion, and madness - indeed as the very seat of the human soul.

Il y a plus de virus sur Terre (1031) que d''étoiles dans l''univers (1024) ! C''est difficile à croire et pourtant nous ne vivons ni sur la planète bleue ni sur celle des singes, mais bien sur celle des virus. Ils sont les plus petits êtres vivants connus de la science mais sont partout. Sous la calotte glaciaire de l''Antarctique, dans les océans, qui en abritent l''équivalent de 75 millions de baleines bleues, et bien sûr, dans tous les organismes vivants dont ils sont les hôtes indésirables, à commencer par notre espèce. Rhume, grippe, Ebola, MERS, chikungunya ; virus géants ou surgis du passé. Pas une année sans que les virus fassent planer la menace d''une épidémie dévastatrice et posent de nouvelles questions à la science : Comment évoluons-nous avec eux depuis des millénaires (8% de notre génome est d''origine virale) ? Le changement climatique conduira-t-il à des épidémies encore plus mortelles ? Les virus disparus que l''on ressuscite constituent-ils une nouvelle menace ? En 10 récits brillants et incisifs, sans aucun jargon, Carl Zimmer fait la lumière sur les secrets de ce fascinant univers caché.

For years, scientists have been warning us that a pandemic was all but inevitable. Now it''s here, and the rest of us have a lot to learn. Fortunately, science writer Carl Zimmer is here to guide us. In this compact volume, he tells the story of how the smallest living things known to science can bring an entire planet of people to a halt--and what we can learn from how we''ve defeated them in the past. Planet of Viruses covers such threats as Ebola, MERS, and chikungunya virus; tells about recent scientific discoveries, such as a hundred-million-year-old virus that infected the common ancestor of armadillos, elephants, and humans; and shares new findings that show why climate change may lead to even deadlier outbreaks. Zimmer’s lucid explanations and fascinating stories demonstrate how deeply humans and viruses are intertwined. Viruses helped give rise to the first life-forms, are responsible for many of our most devastating diseases, and will continue to control our fate for centuries. Thoroughly readable, and, for all its honesty about the threats, as reassuring as it is frightening, A Planet of Viruses is a fascinating tour of a world we all need to better understand.

Everybody Out of the Pond At the Water''s Edge will change the way you think about your place in the world. The awesome journey of life''s transformation from the first microbes 4 billion years ago to Homo sapiens today is an epic that we are only now beginning to grasp. Magnificent and bizarre, it is the story of how we got here, what we left behind, and what we brought with us. We all know about evolution, but it still seems absurd that our ancestors were fish. Darwin''s idea of natural selection was the key to solving generation-to-generation evolution -- microevolution -- but it could only point us toward a complete explanation, still to come, of the engines of macroevolution, the transformation of body shapes across millions of years. Now, drawing on the latest fossil discoveries and breakthrough scientific analysis, Carl Zimmer reveals how macroevolution works. Escorting us along the trail of discovery up to the current dramatic research in paleontology, ecology, genetics, and embryology, Zimmer shows how scientists today are unveiling the secrets of life that biologists struggled with two centuries ago. In this book, you will find a dazzling, brash literary talent and a rigorous scientific sensibility gracefully brought together. Carl Zimmer provides a comprehensive, lucid, and authoritative answer to the mystery of how nature actually made itself.

En 1664, le médecin anglais Thomas Willis, cofondateur de la prestigieuse Royal Society, publie à Londres son Cerebri anatome, un ouvrage enrichi de gravures magnifiques et minutieuses offrant au regard, pour la première fois dans l''histoire de la médecine occidentale, les ramifications des nerfs du cerveau humain. Avec cet ouvrage, Willis allait fonder une nouvelle science à laquelle il donna le nom de "neurologie", une science qui allait localiser l''âme humaine non pas dans le coeur, "siège de la conscience" selon Aristote, non pas dans les humeurs chères aux adeptes de la mélancolie et de la "bile noire", mais dans le réseau complexe des neurones cervicaux, rompant ainsi avec plus de deux millénaires de tradition médicale. Et l''âme devint chair retrace, en un récit vivifiant où l''odeur du sang se fait presque sentir, l''histoire fascinante de Thomas Willis et de ses divers collaborateurs de l''université d''Oxford (Christopher Wren, Robert Hooke, Anthony Wood, William Harvey), leurs multiples tentatives de dissection de cerveaux animaux ou humains, leurs interrogations religieuses face à la découverte du fonctionnement de la chair humaine, et ce au moment où l''homme s''interroge également sur la relation qu''il entretient avec sa propre pensée.

"Students will learn the fundamental concepts of evolutionary theory, such as natural selection, genetic drift, phylogeny, and coevolution. Evolution: Making Sense of Life also drives home the relevance of evolution for disciplines ranging from conservation biology to medicine"--

Viruses are the smallest living things known to science, yet they hold the entire planet in their sway. Rabbits with Horns and Other Astounding Viruses explores the bizarre places viruses dwell, and considers the often unexpected ways they influence our world. From agricultural production and crystal caves to rabbits with horns and cervical cancer, viruses are behind many of the wonders—some fascinating, some frightening—of the natural world, as well as some of our greatest medical challenges. Through his engaging considerations of the tobacco mosaic virus, viruses in ocean algae, and the human papillomavirus, award-winning science writer Carl Zimmer brings us up to speed on the nuances and depth of today''s cutting-edge scientific research on virology.

Cet ouvrage retrace les grandes lignes de la science de l''évolution, depuis les pré-darwiniens jusqu''aux derniers développements en génétique et en médecine évolutionniste. L''étude des phénomènes du monde vivant, tels que la sélection naturelle, l''évolution et la disparition des espèces, n''est pas un champ réservé aux seuls chercheurs. En effet, les implications de ces phénomènes sur notre existence sont nombreuses et importantes. Carl Zimmer offre une introduction à l''évolution claire, complète et abondamment illustrée. Il en rappelle les principes et en étudie l''enjeu majeur à l''échelle humaine : mieux comprendre l''homme et son évolution au sein de nos sociétés organisées. Quelle est l''origine de nos comportements en société? Quelles sont les limites de l''adaptation de l''homme au bouleversement de notre mode de vie ? Autant de questions auxquelles l''évolution apporte des éléments de réponses. "L''évolution est plus qu''une théorie : c''est une façon de comprendre le monde".