Viruses: A Very Short Introduction Paperback – September 1, 2011
Author: Visit Amazon's Dorothy H. Crawford Page | Language: English | ISBN: 0199574855 | Format: PDF, EPUB
Viruses: A Very Short Introduction – September 1, 2011
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"Anyone with a curious mind who wants to boost his or her scientific literacy will enjoy Viruses: A Very Short Introduction. In bite-sized fashion, baseline knowledge gets built and feeds the curious mind, just a taste; it is strangely sweet." - New York Journal of Books
Dorothy H. Crawford is Emeritus Professor of Medical Microbiology and Honorary Assistant Principal for Public Understanding of Medicine at the University of Edinburgh.
Download latest books on mediafire and other links compilation Viruses: A Very Short Introduction – September 1, 2011
Posts about Download The Book Viruses: A Very Short Introduction Paperback – September 1, 2011 from mediafire, rapishare, and mirror link
Review
"Anyone with a curious mind who wants to boost his or her scientific literacy will enjoy Viruses: A Very Short Introduction. In bite-sized fashion, baseline knowledge gets built and feeds the curious mind, just a taste; it is strangely sweet." - New York Journal of Books
About the Author
Dorothy H. Crawford is Emeritus Professor of Medical Microbiology and Honorary Assistant Principal for Public Understanding of Medicine at the University of Edinburgh.
Download latest books on mediafire and other links compilation Viruses: A Very Short Introduction – September 1, 2011
- Paperback: 176 pages
- Publisher: Oxford University Press; 1st edition (September 1, 2011)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0199574855
- ISBN-13: 978-0199574858
- Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.3 x 0.5 inches
- Shipping Weight: 3.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
- Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #460,954 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
This is my second 'Very Short Introduction' book, and I've found them to be both well-written and factual. Plus they're the perfect size to store in my purse for those long, boring sit-downs in the doctor's waiting room (not to mention the long boring lie-downs in the examination room).
'Viruses' started out with slight misstep--it placed Antonie van Leeuwenhoek in the 16th century--but as far as I could tell, the rest of the book is error-free. It is made up of a series of detective stories: the discovery of disease-causing microbes that were able to pass through bacteria-trapping filters; the detection of emerging virus infections such as SARS; the discovery of viruses that cause tumors; and of course, the research on methods of preventing or ameliorating viral infections.
The question as to whether viruses are alive always provokes a lively discussion. According to this author: "Because virus particles are inert, without the ability to generate energy or manufacture proteins independently, they are not generally regarded as living organisms." She is obviously on the side of viruses as non-living, able to reproduce only after hijacking a living cell's internal machinery. Different types of viruses are described and classified, one of the biggest differences being whether the virus has an RNA or a DNA genome. The RNA viruses tend to mutate much more quickly, including such infamous examples as measles and HIV.
Only a very small number of viruses cause diseases in animals and plants. In the chapter "Viruses are everywhere" the author states: "It is now clear that viruses form a huge biomass of enormous variety and complexity in the environment, the whole being aptly termed the 'virosphere'...Microbes are by far the most abundant life form on Earth.
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