Customer Reviews

Panic in Level 4: Cannibals, Killer Viruses, and Other Journeys to the Edge of Science

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

The potential reader should be warned that despite the title of the book being "PANIC IN LEVEL 4", only the introduction portion of the book takes place at the Army's Level 4 virus laboratories at Fort Detrick, an Army base in the eastern flank of the Appalachian Mountains in Maryland. This is the headquarters of the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases. (USAMRIID) "Biosafety Level 4, is the highest and tightest level of biosecurity in a laboratory. Laboratories rated at Biosafety Level 4 are repositories of viruses called hot agents-lethal viruses for which there is no vaccine or effective cure. Level 4 labs are sealed off from the outside world." The author does a tremendous job in this area, as his narration makes you feel as if you're inside a pressurized whole-body-biohazard-suit along with him. You'll feel sweat dripping down every orifice of your body as untreatable "live" vials of Ebola and other deadly diseases are in your presence, and all of a sudden the zipper on your suit opens, or you find a hole in your sleeve or pants. Unfortunately this section ends too quickly and then we are in New York visiting with brothers Gregory and David Chudnovsky, two mathematics geniuses, that have built a supercomputer utilizing mail order parts in their rundown apartment. All in their quest to find hidden order in the number "PI". (The division of the circle's diameter into its circumference.) These brothers have built the equivalent of a Cray Y-MP Supercomputer (At the time, one of, if not "THE" fastest computer in the world.) which cost more than THIRTY-MILLION-DOLLARS... while their home-built computer cost them about SEVENTY-THOUSAND-DOLLARS. When the author is first greeted at their apartment door by David, as he slowly opened the door he said: "Don't worry, nothing unpleasant will happen to you here. We will not turn you into digits." The temperature in the apartment is unbearable due to the heat this massive computer puts out, and the landlord doesn't know they've created a supercomputer in their apartment. Eventually they break the world record by calculating "PI" to the 2,260,321,336, decimal, which though impressive still doesn't solve the problem. Note: The author calculated and had verified by a "New Yorker Magazine" fact checker, that there was at least ONE-TON-OF-PAPER in Gregory's bedroom.

From there we go to a story about the death of trees in the forest. I believe all six chapters are from prior New Yorker articles. Because of this, some chapters overlap as far as having the same characters or DNA research subjects, so the reader is stuck hearing the exact same information about certain people and subjects. The minute miniscule discussions regarding DNA, genome, bacteria, sequencing equipment, etc. over and over and over... I must admit it was over the head of a layman like me. And it wasn't the type of book I thought I was getting.

There is a really interesting and harrowing chapter on the Ebola virus that educates the reader that there is not only no cure, but it has been almost impossible to find out where and what it comes from. The author points out that just in the canopies of the forests there are a million living entities that haven't even been discovered by modern man. There's a chapter on a unicorn tapestry made in 1500 and as I mentioned earlier in discussing overlapping characters... the "math-brothers" are out of their apartment and reintroduced to the reader as if we've never heard of them before.

The last chapter is entitled "THE SELF-CANNIBALS" which is about Lesch-Nyhan syndrome. I had never heard of it before, and it is a sad, sad, gut-wrenching illness. It will be hard for any human being with even the smallest amount of empathy to not be distressed reading this. One of the tamer passages is: "Over time, his fingers had gotten into his mouth and nose, and had broken out and removed the bones of his upper palate and parts of his sinuses, leaving a cavern in his face. He had also bitten off several fingers. J.J. seemed happy most of the time, except when he was injuring himself." After getting to know the disease and the affect on the poor human beings and their families that are stricken with it, I wish the author would have used a different title for this chapter. One of the phrases used in this chapter was "self-mutilation", which is still awful but I feel it would show a little more dignity.

This book obviously is written with a very high intellect level, but it is not for everyone, and I hope my review will help people to buy and not to buy as the individual case may be. I wish I could have read a review like this before I decided. I wasn't prepared for what I read.

This sounded like a great idea when I found it on the shelf at the library... Panic in Level 4: Cannibals, Killer Viruses, and Other Journeys to the Edge of Science by Richard Preston. I opened the book, expecting to have around 200 pages of talk about killer viruses and the war against them. Instead, I got a seemly random assortment of stories that mostly bore little resemblance to the "Panic in Level 4" title. I almost felt like a victim of bait-and-switch.

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

The title actually comes from the Introduction chapter. It's there that the author relates his story of being allowed to enter a level 4 biohazard room as part of his background research as a writer. This is something that normally is never allowed, but a few rules were bent and he learned what it's like to be working with viruses that can kill you 100% of the time. Had the whole book stayed in that vein, it would have been great. But then Preston launched into an assortment of stories that, in my opinion, failed to deliver on the promise of the intro and title.

The Mountains of Pi examines two mathematicians who built their own supercomputer and dig deeply into the calculations of the value of Pi. Not a bad story in itself, but not exactly "panic" and "level 4" excitement. A Death in the Forest gets into how an insect infestation kills off eastern hemlock trees, and follows the people who try to prevent the deaths. Far from riveting... The Search for Ebola gets back to the title premise a bit, and shows how difficult it is to trace down the source of a disease that has no cure. The Human Kabbalah then reverts back to the "switch" category by following the story of the mapping of the human genome. An inordinate amount of time is spent looking at the personalities involved between the two groups trying to complete the mapping, as well as the motivation and lifestyle of each. Again, perhaps not a bad story in itself, but off the path of expectations. The Lost Unicorn goes into the efforts to restore the Unicorn Tapestries and the computing power needed to blend together digital images of the tapestries so that a digital record of the work is maintained. We're not only "off the path" now, but I'm not sure there was ever a path to begin with! The Self-Cannibals veers back towards the title, covering a syndrome known as Lesch-Nyhan where people are compelled to mutilate themselves in strange and painful ways. It could be a book by itself, but unfortunately it's a small chapter that only helps to counterbalance the other chapters that were out in left field.

I really enjoyed Preston's other works, which capture the danger and intensity of working with killer illnesses that approach a 100% level of mortality. Panic lacked a cohesive thread based on the title, and I was really disappointed that so many of the chapters failed to deliver on expectations. If you come into the book knowing that it's not all about microbes and germs, you may be more forgiving on the choice of chapter subjects. Unfortunately, I didn't, and I wasn't...

I don't understand why people are getting so up in arms about the title. It's an attention grabber, which is what titles are supposed to do. The book is a collection of short pieces about non-fiction subjects. To those who are complaining that the book isn't as exciting as Preston's other work, please take note: this is not fiction, and is therefore doesn't have as much of an excitement factor. If you take the book for what it is, I strongly believe that you will be pleased. Each piece within the book was fascinating (except maybe the bit about the Unicorn Tapestries, but that's just personal bias). I found this book to be easy to read, highly informative, and very enjoyable overall. I especially enjoyed reading about the Chudnovskys and the rivals in the Human Genome Project. Happy reading to all!

Do not buy this book because of the title. The book has nothing to do with Level 4 containment. And that was the disappointment. The book consists of several short stories that were originally published in a newspaper. A vast majority of the book deals with two mathematician brothers who really lead a very boring life trying to determine pi to umpteen decimals. And Preston goes on and on about their life. The Ebola chapter is an interesting chapter, but still has nothing to do with Level 4. The chapter on a strange disease where people are eating themselves is very interesting...again, nothing to do with Level 4. Another chapter describes the steps taken to photograph a tapestry called "The Unicorn". Nothing exciting there either. The introduction to the book goes on seemingly forever, giving all the punch lines to the chapters and is the only reference to Panic in Level 4 when the author is potentially exposed to microbes while researching part of the book. That's it. "Panic in Level 4" refers to the introduction in the book. The book is also poorly written in that even each chapter seems disjointed. The people eating disease chapter is possibly the best written in the book.

This does not compare in the slightest to Hot Zone, which is a far more cohesively written book and interesting book, in my opinion.

This is a collection of essays, of varying caliber. There isn't much to tie them together: one is about trees being destroyed by an Asian beetle, one is about a hideous genetic disease, another is about medieval tapestries. Any one of the essays could probably have been turned into an interesting book, but, somehow, this motley collection is more distracting than riveting.

Preston's writing can be a bit stilted, but when the subject matter is good enough, I don't mind reading on.

My biggest problem with this book is the length vs the price. At 188 pages, it is barely as long as a series romance, yet you need to shell out $26 for it. Since the original essays were all available in periodicals like "The New Yorker", which you can get at the library, this really seems like an insult to the reader's wallet.

If you haven't already read his essays, and want to browse through these, I'd definitely recommend the library. This book is not a keeper, and not worth the cover price.

About: Preston, author of The Hot Zone (a book I loved) presents a collection of expanded essays that were originally published in the New Yorker.

He describes his writing and interviewing methods in the introduction and describes his visit to a Level 4 lab (where the deadliest viruses are). A sentence I thought was particularly choice: "A cold virus particle on the base of an eyelash hair would be like a peanut sitting by the Washington Monument." (pg xxxvi)

Mountains of Pi describes 2 number theorist brothers, David and Gregory Chudnovsky and their quest to calculate pi using a supercomputer they built themselves in their apartment. Gives a great look at how intricate and fascinating pi is.

A Death in the Forest tells the tale of the decimation of hemlock trees due to a pest known as the woody adelgid.

The Search for Ebola covers territory familiar to those who have read The Hot Zone, and details the search for the original animal host of the Ebola virus.

The Human Kabbalah profiles J. Craig Venter , the founder of the biotechnology company Celera and the battle with the National Institutes of Health in decoding the human genome.

The Lost Unicorn takes us to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, where they are having trouble digitizing a large tapestry from circa 1600, enter the Chudnovsky brothers from the Mountains of Pi chapter.

The Self-Cannibals is an engaging chapter introduces us to several suffers of Lesch-Nyhan Syndrome, a genetic disease that causes compulsive self-harming behaviors like chewing off lips or fingers.

Pros: Very well written. Even with the varied topics, all are interesting.

Cons: The chapter on Ebola is rather short considering that the book's title and cover artwork seem to make it out as a large portion of the book, which may put off those wanting a Hot Zone like tale.

Having read Demon in the Freezer several years ago, I had high hopes for this book, but was hugely disappointed. The chapters are unrelated and, as a result, the book has the sense of a glued-together group of short articles Preston had cluttering his file cabinet.

By the way, why on earth should anyone but an obsessive mathematician care that Pi has been calculated to over 2 billion digits? Preston makes no attempt to tell us.

This one is a slight mixed bag as it is comprised mostly of previously published articles from the 'New Yorker' and covers a range of near-fringe science topics as the genesis of the Ebola virus, the maddening quest to unravel the complexities of pi, a genetic condition that causes one to self-mutilate in cannibalistic fashion, etc. Nonetheless, Preston crafts compelling narratives around complex subject matter by focusing on the humanistic elements of each section which ultimately makes for a fine read.

The title is quite misleading as the stories in the book arent so much into Level 4 stuff!
Some parts actually feel like book filling and are on the edge of boredom.

Still some interesting chapters covered, but definitely not his best book.

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.