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| | Location: Home » Viruses » Emergency Medicine » Panic in Level 4: Cannibals, Killer Viruses, and Other Journeys to the Edge of Science | January 6, 2009 |
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| Panic in Level 4: Cannibals, Killer Viruses, and Other Journeys to the Edge of Science | 
 enlarge | Author: Richard Preston
Publisher: Random House
Category: Book
List Price: $26.00
Buy New: $12.75
You Save: $13.25 (51%)
Buy New/Used/Collectible from $11.26
Avg. Customer Rating:  (18 reviews)
Sales Rank: 64241
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 240
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 9.4 x 6.3 x 1
ISBN: 1400064902
Dewey Decimal Number: 616.024
EAN: 9781400064908
ASIN: 1400064902
Publication Date: May 27, 2008
Release Date: May 27, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Bizarre illnesses and plagues that kill people in the most unspeakable ways. Obsessive and inspired efforts by scientists to solve mysteries and save lives. From The Hot Zone to The Demon in the Freezer and beyond, Richard Preston?s bestselling works have mesmerized readers everywhere by showing them strange worlds of nature they never dreamed of.
Panic in Level 4 is a grand tour through the eerie and unforgettable universe of Richard Preston, filled with incredible characters and mysteries that refuse to leave one?s mind. Here are dramatic true stories from this acclaimed and award-winning author, including:
? The phenomenon of ?self-cannibals,? who suffer from a rare genetic condition caused by one wrong letter in their DNA that forces them to compulsively chew their own flesh?and why everyone may have a touch of this disease.
? The search for the unknown host of Ebola virus, an organism hidden somewhere in African rain forests, where the disease finds its way into the human species, causing outbreaks of unparalleled horror.
? The brilliant Russian brothers??one mathematician divided between two bodies??who built a supercomputer in their apartment from mail-order parts in an attempt to find hidden order in the number pi (?).
In fascinating, intimate, and exhilarating detail, Richard Preston portrays the frightening forces and constructive discoveries that are currently roiling and reordering our world, once again proving himself a master of the nonfiction narrative and, as noted in The Washington Post, ?a science writer with an uncommon gift for turning complex biology into riveting page-turners.?
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| Customer Reviews: Read 13 more reviews...
 Good Stories January 5, 2009
Very well written stories. I agree that the title of the book is misleading. The title deserves about a 1 star, it just isn't accurate at all. But the stories are interesting and if you like his work (like the Hot Zone) you will like this. I believe the 6 stories are all previously published New Yorker stories.
 Not disappointed at all... December 29, 2008
I was not disappointed at all after reading the book, infact I found it pretty interesting and thought provoking. It is about a few seemingly random things, but if you read a lot of his books and actually pay attention to the details in the book, most of it does tie together. Definitely worth reading.
Interesting, and Sometimes Terrifying! September 13, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Preston begins by taking a "tour" into the Level 4 labs at the Army Research Institute for Infectious Diseases. Readers learn both of the incredibly dangers posed by some of the diseases being researched there, and the precautions taken to prevent their infecting anyone.
The first chapter tells the rather frustrating story of two Russian mathematics PhDs who built their own supercomputer for $70,000 in one of their N.Y.C. apartments. They are determined to calculate pi to a detail level greater than anyone else. Archimedes made an early effort (concluded it was between 3 10/71 and 3 1/7), ultimately followed by the ENIAC computer in 1949 (2,037 places), then 200 million places by a large IBM computer in the late 1980s, and ultimately 2.26 billion by the Russian brothers, beating out others using million+ supercomputers by Hitachi and Cray.
Another chapter begins with tracing an African Ebola outbreak to Patient Zero - a 42-year-old self-employed charcoal maker who also tended a couple of maize fields carved out of the forest. After arriving home one day he began bleeding, was taken to the hospital, and died soon after. Then three members of his family, followed by ten more of his extended family. Next it spread to other patients and then staff at the town's two hospitals.
A few doctors and nurses demonstrated incredible courage by staying with their Ebola patients, knowing death was the likely outcome for themselves. Fortunately, some survived. The "good news" is that after townspeople fled the hospitals the outbreak stopped.
Scientists then trapped a large variety of animals and insects in the area looking for carriers - nothing was found. (A much smaller outbreak two months prior in the Ivory Coast was linked to wild chimps, though it was not learned how they obtained the virus - fatal to them as well.)
Another horror story involved several young Americans with a genetic disorder that caused them to be especially charming, yet also chew off the tips of their fingers, attempt to harm those they liked, and then apologize profusely. Preston's interviewees included the leading researcher in the area, and a patient.
Wasn't fond of it August 1, 2008
0 out of 3 found this review helpful
The Hot Zone' was an exceptional book and so 'Panic in Level 4' sounded very promising at first. The book is a collection of writings Mr. Preston did over a period of a few years. Only a couple of them refer to the terrible viral outbreaks, such as the African Ebola. I wasn't to fond of reading about the self-cannibalization disorder, it seemed to depressing. I recommend 'Demon In The Freezer', much more engaging read.
Not Quite the "Edge of Science" July 28, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Because I was totally enamored with Richard Preston's earlier book, The Wild Trees, and listed it as one of the best books I read in 2007, I was looking forward to his latest effort, Panic in Level 4: Cannibals, Killer Viruses, and Other Journeys to the Edge of Science. The title comes from Preston's experience in a Biosafety Level 4, the highest and tightest level of biosecurity in a laboratory, where exposure to viruses present will kill you 100% of the time. Through some "luck," he was able to work in a Level 4 lab, where the technicians were working with a person that died from exposure to Marburg Ebola. Marburg is a strain of Ebola that is found in East Africa and is just as deadly as any Ebola virus.
Contents:
Introduction: Adventures in Nonfiction Writing
The Mountains of Pi
A Death in the Forest
The Search for Ebola
The Human Kabbalah
The Lost Unicorn
The Self-Cannibals
Glossary
Acknowledgments
After the introduction, where Preston explains his "Panic in Level 4," the reader is introduced to two number theorists that built their own supercomputer in their New York apartment. In "The Mountains of Pi," these mathematicians are looking for patterns in pi, trying to crack the code. While interesting to read how brilliant people are marginalized by mainstream academia when they don't fit into traditional roles, it was more a story concerning the Chudnovsky's overcoming the limits of renting time on supercomputers and building their own out of mail-order parts. "A Death in the Forest" continues Preston's work in The Wild Trees, where he writes about the death of Eastern Hemlocks, the largest trees in the eastern part of the United States due to the introduction of an invasive species, the hemlock wooly adelgid. The next chapter, "The Search for Ebola," concerns the research done to trace the host of Ebola and also tells a tale of an Ebola outbreak in Congo. From there, we learn of the two factions in the race to unlock human DNA. "The Human Kabbalah" focuses on Craig Venter, who was in direct competition with the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Not only was he trying to beat the NIH at reading the human genetic code, he was also trying to make money off it, by selling his research to the large pharmaceutical companies. Bringing the Chudnovsky brothers back for an encore, we learn about tapestries, digital photography, and supercomputers in "The Lost Unicorn." Finally, in "The Self-Cannibals," Preston writes about a genetic disease, Lesch-Nyhan syndrome, where the victims perform the most gruesome self-mutilation.
The stories in "Panic in Level 4" are very different. While the subtitle, ". . . and Other Journeys to the Edge of Science" leads one to believe that most of the chapters will deal with Ebola-like issues, the reality is that Preston seems to have created a book from his favorite personalities or projects. While I really enjoyed reading about most of the topics, they didn't live up to the introductory chapter or to "The Search for Ebola." Those are they types of stories that we have come to expect from Preston. However, as a fan of The Wild Trees, I did enjoy "A Death in the Forest." I am fascinated with large trees, and the ecosystems contained in their canopy, but it seemed out of place in this book. Also out of place was "The Last Unicorn." Using a supercomputer to piece together thousands of digital photographs of the Unicorn Tapestries does not come across as gripping science. "The Self Cannibals" was the most unsettling chapter in the book. I glanced at a picture of one of the victims and then I refused to look at it. The results of Lesch-Nyhan syndrome are disturbing. I was hoping that somehow Preston would tie in the human DNA project more tightly with the story, but there wasn't much between the two chapters. As you might tell, I had high expectations for this book after really enjoying The Wild Trees. I was disappointed with most of the chapters. But if you are liberal with your definition of "edge of science" or if you ignore that and simply look at each chapter as interesting science writing, you may enjoy it.
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