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traegeryyc t1_j8y95sx wrote

Reply to comment by antichain in Marburg Virus Outbreak in Equatorial Guinea: researchers race to test vaccines by HowSR

Spillover didnt act as a catalyst to create billions in funding for vaccine research on hemorrhagic fevers, but Hot Zone did. Not to mention the incredible attention it brought to the conditions in that part of the world.

Nobody gives a shit about it being too gross for virologists as a piece of literature or tv or movies. The 2 latter of which, the other book has none to their credit.

Like a moth to a flame. There is always one guy who sees this title and has to make this asinine comment.

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antichain t1_j8y9vpe wrote

Nothing that you said makes it an "excellent" book. It may have had a positive impact, but that's largely independent of the quality of the book - a lot of what is in The Hot Zone is just straight-up factually incorrect. In a work of scientific nonfiction, that's pretty much a disqualifier in my mind.

In fact, you could argue that it is the poor qualities of the book that prompted the billions of funding (since exaggerated fear-mongering makes a larger impact than measured, conservative science).

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Extension-Mall6761 t1_j8zwzqm wrote

And the Last of Us has sparked a huge interest into research on cordyseps It’s literally a sci fi book. Chill out.

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traegeryyc t1_j8yaone wrote

Ironically many of those same virologists that "widely panned" the book, benefitted greatly from the grants it made available to them.

I think you are more upset than they are.

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antichain t1_j8yb5e0 wrote

I just think that if people are looking for a popular science book to read about zoonotic spillover, they would probably get more out of Spillover than the Hot Zone, since it's a more scientifically informed book.

Idk why you're stanning so hard for The Hot Zone - it's not super crazy that as time goes on, science advances, and more recent books improve on earlier ones.

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[deleted] t1_j8ybsl8 wrote

[removed]

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missypierce t1_j8yl7lf wrote

It sounds like some people are reading the Hot Zone as a science book.

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traegeryyc t1_j8ylbe9 wrote

Right? Its not a fucking textbook. Its a novel.

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antichain t1_j8yctap wrote

So...you just don't like it when you don't get uniform adulation and upvotes? Presenting even the mildest challenge (informed by scientists who work in the field) is enough to trigger ad-hominem attacks like "shitstain."

That seems kind of silly and fragile, imo.

The Martian doesn't present itself as nonfiction. The Hot Zone does.

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traegeryyc t1_j8ydk2s wrote

I dunno. I recently split open my leg. From my POV, it was a gushing disaster, and that's how I wrote it down. The emerg physician saw it as 3 stitches in his overworked world.

I got the book deal, he is still on 36h shifts.

Mine was a true account. The doctor's was far too non-graphic to truly explain the situation and emotions.

And to be clear. I am not discounting your book nor promoting the one I mentioned. I am just tired of Hot Zone Haters seeing a notification in their feed and coming and shitting on the book.

Its so predictable. Your book was written by a travel blogger .

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Dovienya55 t1_j8z46gy wrote

Nah, I'm a random passerby and I agree with traegeryyc. You sound like you read technical manuals for fun on a Friday night, and brag about it to anyone that'll listen.

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sluttyjamjams73 t1_j8zj4tp wrote

You sound like your mom types out your comments and reads back the responses because you can't do either.

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