Hogar — Colecciones — Books on Bioengineering, Pandemics, Viruses and Their Economic and Societal Impact
Books on Bioengineering, Pandemics, Viruses and Their Economic and Societal Impact
It’s obvious by now (March 2020) that we’re in the middle of a virus outbreak that it’s gonna reshape the world we live in, even if just for a short time. Bill Gates wonders if this is a “one-in-a-century pandemic”
The markets already reacted: S&P 500 had the quickest correction since the Great Depression, in 1933 (source). We’ve also seen the images of empty Wuhan, a city with millions of people or the empty shelves in the super markets in Northern Italy.
While the new and present information coming to us from all the sources available is, at best, contradictory, at worst false, there are lessons we can learn from the past.
Books on the past outbreaks (from the Spanish Flu to Ebola) can give us an idea on how people react and what we can expect.
Books on bioengineering and genes can help us understand what scientist try to do now to help us, all, survive the newest virus and what we can do in the future.
Finally, here’s the list of books to read, in case you want to understand the bigger impact COVID19 (the “coronavirus”) might have on our society as we know it now and what we can expect in the next few months and years.
Books on Bioengineering, Pandemics and Viruses

La Gran Influenza: La Historia de la Pandemia Más Mortal de la Historia

Crisis en la zona roja: la historia del brote de ébola más mortífero de la historia y de los brotes por venir

Armas, gérmenes y acero: el destino de las sociedades humanas

Epic Measures: One Doctor. Seven Billion Patients

The Gene: An Intimate History

Genoma: la autobiografía de una especie en 23 capítulos
This book aims to tell a history of humanity from the perspective of genetics rather than sociology. This should complement the other broad histories I've read this year, as well as follow "Energy" well in focusing on science.
I've wanted to read Matt Ridley's books for a while. His recent book "The Rational Optimist" about how progress and the economy evolve is also near the top of my ever-growing pile of books to read.

El cisne negro: el impacto de lo altamente improbable
[Del libro "The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon"]
“El erudito argumenta que las personas están programadas para ver patrones en el caos mientras permanecen ciegas ante eventos impredecibles, con consecuencias masivas. La experimentación y el empirismo triunfan sobre la narrativa fácil y obvia”, escribe Stone.

Quiénes somos y cómo llegamos aquí: ADN antiguo y la nueva ciencia del pasado humano
Escribiré una reseña más larga, pero este es un monumento, no solo un libro. Y el comienzo de un nuevo programa cultural.
En una escala de 0 a 100, las pruebas de paternidad cuentan como 99.99 y la historia escrita/oral debe contar como .01. Aplicar eso a las poblaciones. Eso es simple estadística/probabilidad. Estamos viendo la ciencia en acción: la teoría de la información desplaza a BS, las historias que recibimos de los historiadores.

Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets

The Human Superorganism: How the Microbiome Is Revolutionizing the Pursuit of a Healthy Life

Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed

Dancing Naked in the Mind Field

The World Until Yesterday: What Can We Learn from Traditional Societies?

I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life
