محمول جواً: التاريخ الخفي للحياة التي نتنفسها

Among Smithsonian Magazine's 10 Best Science Books of 2025._ _Remarkable, never-before-told details about the air we breathe, the hidden life it contains, and the unseen dangers that could turn the world upside down._ Every day we breathe in two thousand gallons of air, and thousands of living things. From Earth to the stratosphere, the air teems with invisible life. This last great biological frontier remains so mysterious that it took scientists more than two years to finally agree that the COVID-19 pandemic is caused by an airborne virus. In Airborne, Carl Zimmer, New York Times columnist and award-winning author, takes us on a journey through the living atmosphere and through the history of its discovery. We travel to the peaks of mountain glaciers, where Louis Pasteur caught germs from the air, and follow Amelia Earhart and Charles Lindbergh above the clouds, where they conducted pioneering experiments. In this book, we learn about forgotten pioneers of aerobiology, including William and Mildred Wells, who worked for decades to warn the world of airborne infections, only to die in oblivion. _Airborne_ chronicles the dark side of aerobiology, with captivating accounts of how the United States and the Soviet Union built secret arsenals of airborne biological weapons, designed to spread anthrax, smallpox, and a host of other pathogens. The book also gives readers a new view of the world, seeing it as a place where oceans and forests release trillions of cells into the air, where microbes feed on clouds, and where life flies thousands of miles on the wind. Blending fascinating history with the latest reports on COVID-19 and other threats to global health, the book surprises us on every page, revealing the hidden world of air.