# Breathless: The Scientific Race to Defeat a Deadly Virus - Hardcover

by **David Quammen** (Author)

**National Book Award finalist _Breathless_ tells the story of the worldwide scientific race to decipher the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, trace its source, and make possible the vaccines to fight the Covid-19 pandemic--****a** **"l****uminous, passionate account of the defining crisis of our time." (_The New York Times_).**

_Breathless_ is a "gripping" (_The Atlantic_) but "clear-eyed analysis" (_Time_) of SARs-CoV-2 and its fierce journey through the human population, as seen by the scientists who study its origin, its ever-changing nature, and its capacity to kill us. David Quammen expertly shows how strange new viruses emerge from animals into humans as we disrupt wild ecosystems and how those viruses adapt to their human hosts, sometimes causing global catastrophe. He explains why this coronavirus will probably be a "forever virus," destined to circulate among humans and bedevil us endlessly, in one variant form or another. As scientists labor to catch it, comprehend it, and control it, with their high-tech tools and methods, the virus finds ways of escape.

Based on interviews with nearly one hundred scientists, including leading virologists in China and around the world, Quammen explains that:  
\-Infectious disease experts saw this pandemic coming  
\-Some scientists, for more than two decades, warned that "the next big one" would be caused by a changeable new virus--very possibly a coronavirus--but such warnings were ignored for political or economic reasons  
\-The precise origins of this virus may not be known for years, but some clues are compelling, and some suppositions can be dismissed  
\-And much more

Written by "one of our finest explainers of the natural world for decades" (_Chicago Tribune_), This "compelling and terrifying" (_The New York Times_) account is an unparalleled look inside the frantic international race to understand and control SARS-CoV-2--and what it might mean for the next potential global health crisis.

### Author Biography

David Quammen's books include _Breathless_, _The Tangled Tree_, _The Song of the Dodo_, _The Reluctant Mr. Darwin_, and _Spillover_, a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and recipient of the Premio Letterario Merck, in Rome. He has written for _The New Yorker_, _Harper's Magazine_, _The Atlantic_, _National Geographic_, and _Outside_, among other magazines, and is a three-time winner of the National Magazine Award. Quammen shares a home in Bozeman, Montana, with his wife, Betsy Gaines Quammen, author of _American Zion_, and with two Russian wolfhounds, a cross-eyed cat, and a rescue python. Visit him at DavidQuammen.com.

**Number of Pages:** 416

**Dimensions:** 1.28 x 9.27 x 6.37 IN

**Publication Date:** October 04, 2022

**Award:** National Book Awards (2022)

## Details

- **Price:** 29.99 USD
- **Vendor:** Books by splitShops
- **Type:** Books
- **Tags:** Books by splitShops, Shopify Collective

## Variants

| Variant | Price | Available |
|---------|-------|-----------|
| Default Title | 29.99 USD | In stock |

## Images

- Breathless: The Scientific Race to Defeat a Deadly Virus - Hardcover

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