Microbe Hunters

Few bands have come to single-handedly rule a genre as well as Stereolab. The only question remaining is which genre. The band's machine-funky grooves, oddball synthetic washes, and disturbingly flat vocals suggest a futuristic disco where the survivors of nuclear war have settled for alienation anthems that recall the "space-age bachelor pad" music of the distant innocent past. But this is all conjecture. No one knows what the music of the future will sound like. (Heck, we once thought by the year 2000 we'd all be walking around in Lost in Space outfits.) Stereolab, however, are certainly what we think of.

In The Coming Plague, Laurie Garrett looks deeply into human impact on the environment and how this could lead to a new danger in the form of deadly viruses.
Covering new diseases that have emerged since the 1960s, Garrett provides a dramatic and panoramic portrait of the changing balance of power between man and microbes. Carefully researched, written for both the layperson and specialist, filled with tales of heroism and adventure in exotic locales, as well as momentous scientific discoveries, this work may inspire a new generation of microbe hunters. Kimberly Schraf reads with care and intensity, bringing emotional depth to real-life heroes and underscoring the dangers and intrigues of a plot as complex as nature.