Readable book on AIDS pandemic?
November 29, 2011 2:14 AM Subscribe
Is there a great, readable book for science-loving arts graduate about the AIDS pandemic?
So I was listening to a recent Radiolab podcast which had an excellent segment on the origins of the AIDS pandemic. It went into all the details about alleged Patient Zero, and the molecular evidence that transmission to humans first occurred around 1908.
It played right into my arts graduate, but science and history loving geekiness. I’m looking for a readable book that goes into more detail, that’s up to date with the latest info and theories. The Radiolab segment had commentary from a couple of guys and referenced two books And The Band Played On, which seems to be pretty old and The Viral Storm, which seems to be more about virus hunters, than AIDS itself. Neither of these quite fits the bill.
Is there an up-to-date, readable book or perhaps long-form article where I can get right up to date on this stuff?
So I was listening to a recent Radiolab podcast which had an excellent segment on the origins of the AIDS pandemic. It went into all the details about alleged Patient Zero, and the molecular evidence that transmission to humans first occurred around 1908.
It played right into my arts graduate, but science and history loving geekiness. I’m looking for a readable book that goes into more detail, that’s up to date with the latest info and theories. The Radiolab segment had commentary from a couple of guys and referenced two books And The Band Played On, which seems to be pretty old and The Viral Storm, which seems to be more about virus hunters, than AIDS itself. Neither of these quite fits the bill.
Is there an up-to-date, readable book or perhaps long-form article where I can get right up to date on this stuff?
Best answer: That was a great radiolab. After listening to it I'm considering getting this book, which looks like it might be a bit dry but informative, and this one.
posted by pintapicasso at 3:59 AM on November 29, 2011
posted by pintapicasso at 3:59 AM on November 29, 2011
There are two that I recommend to students:
This textbook, "AIDS Update" is written for undergraduates and is updated yearly, so you could probably pick up a cheaper copy from 2010 or 2009 and be in good shape. It's a mix of the science and the public health. It is THE textbook.
This book, "My Pet Virus" boils it down to one individual's perspective. He's a hemophiliac diagnosed early on in the epidemic who was told every year "Oh, you won't live another year" - but here it is, he's still kicking around. It doesn't quite match your request, but I'm recommending it anyway just because the social factors so strongly influence how we treat the disease, treat the patients, and how the patients live their lives.
posted by arabelladragon at 4:18 AM on November 29, 2011
This textbook, "AIDS Update" is written for undergraduates and is updated yearly, so you could probably pick up a cheaper copy from 2010 or 2009 and be in good shape. It's a mix of the science and the public health. It is THE textbook.
This book, "My Pet Virus" boils it down to one individual's perspective. He's a hemophiliac diagnosed early on in the epidemic who was told every year "Oh, you won't live another year" - but here it is, he's still kicking around. It doesn't quite match your request, but I'm recommending it anyway just because the social factors so strongly influence how we treat the disease, treat the patients, and how the patients live their lives.
posted by arabelladragon at 4:18 AM on November 29, 2011
Seconding The Origins of AIDS -- it was not as dry as anticipated and very informative.
posted by mooselini at 4:50 AM on November 29, 2011
posted by mooselini at 4:50 AM on November 29, 2011
Best answer: And The Band Played On is actually really good - I work with an HIV researcher who has it on his "useful books" shelf. It's not a science-heavy book (which is why it doesn't, I think, date too much). It's substantially about the politics of research and the politics of various cities and gay communities and how they facilitated the spread of the epidemic in the US. I do not know how the "patient zero the airline steward" hypothesis has held up over time, but the book really doesn't rest on that. It's a gripping, depressing read and gives you a lot of understanding about some of the political rifts in research and gay politics that persist to this day.
In a sense, I'd compare it to Davis's Late Victorian Holocausts, because it tries to show how a scientific fact (HIV in this case, bad harvests in LVH) turns into an epidemic or a famine through social processes.
posted by Frowner at 4:57 AM on November 29, 2011 [3 favorites]
In a sense, I'd compare it to Davis's Late Victorian Holocausts, because it tries to show how a scientific fact (HIV in this case, bad harvests in LVH) turns into an epidemic or a famine through social processes.
posted by Frowner at 4:57 AM on November 29, 2011 [3 favorites]
The Gravest Show on Earth is pretty great and readable; a good chunk of it addresses science and medicine, as well as media, and egos. I'm not really sure how much of the material needs to be updated, if much; in fact I feel like instead much of what's in the book has largely been forgotten or abandoned. This is not a subject in general that gets a lot of book deals or magazine attention these days.
posted by RJ Reynolds at 5:44 AM on November 29, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by RJ Reynolds at 5:44 AM on November 29, 2011 [1 favorite]
Nthing And the Band Played On.
Also, you want to read Borrowed Time by Paul Monette.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 6:31 AM on November 29, 2011
Also, you want to read Borrowed Time by Paul Monette.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 6:31 AM on November 29, 2011
You should still read And the Band Played On even though it's old. It will give you a great perspective on history as it was happening.
posted by desjardins at 6:38 AM on November 29, 2011
posted by desjardins at 6:38 AM on November 29, 2011
Response by poster: Guys,
thanks for the advice so far.
I was kind of hoping to find a book that covered both:
- the sciencey side of SIV floating in the West African chimp and monkey populations and combining to form HIV1 and the spillover into humans in the early 1900s; and
- the social/anthropological side of development into pandemic over the last 40/50 years.
I get that And The Band Played On covers some of the social side. Does my ideal book exist?
posted by tonylord at 6:50 AM on November 29, 2011
thanks for the advice so far.
I was kind of hoping to find a book that covered both:
- the sciencey side of SIV floating in the West African chimp and monkey populations and combining to form HIV1 and the spillover into humans in the early 1900s; and
- the social/anthropological side of development into pandemic over the last 40/50 years.
I get that And The Band Played On covers some of the social side. Does my ideal book exist?
posted by tonylord at 6:50 AM on November 29, 2011
You might like The River. The central thesis, that HIV resulted from culturing polio vaccine with chimp kidneys infected with SIV, has been pretty much rejected through later molecular analysis of HIV, but the book still presents a nice look at both polio vaccination in the 1950s in Africa and the emergence of HIV-1.
posted by chbrooks at 7:56 AM on November 29, 2011
posted by chbrooks at 7:56 AM on November 29, 2011
Best answer: I so hate And The Band Played On. Read it, sure, but understand that it's not exactly accurate.
Books I like much better -- everything by Laurie Garrett, especially The Coming Plague. It's a bit out of date at this point, but will give you the best overview of the science and the social side, I think.
Here's my answer to a similar question, and you may find other useful ideas in that Ask.
posted by gingerbeer at 1:57 PM on November 29, 2011
Books I like much better -- everything by Laurie Garrett, especially The Coming Plague. It's a bit out of date at this point, but will give you the best overview of the science and the social side, I think.
Here's my answer to a similar question, and you may find other useful ideas in that Ask.
posted by gingerbeer at 1:57 PM on November 29, 2011
Response by poster: Thanks for the amazing answers guys!
God I love AskMeFi!
posted by tonylord at 3:22 PM on November 30, 2011
God I love AskMeFi!
posted by tonylord at 3:22 PM on November 30, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
If you have access to an academic library, you might try searching journal databases for "medical sociology" or "medical anthropology" plus HIV or AIDS.
Sociology and Anthropology will give you a look into the social problems, mitigations, exacerbations, etc of the disease process, and the "medical" part of Medical Sociology or Medical Anthropology will have varying amounts of influence on the depth of discussion of technical science-y stuff.
While longform is the tendency of academic articles, my suggestions will fail "readable" for some thresholds. I love Medical Sociology/Anth, so....I find it very readable. My nurse friend was reading a paper of mine last night, and reminded me that it's a damn shame clinicians and social scientists do not share a vocabulary or even a concept map of some things. A Doctor of Osteopathy student I know is also getting a Masters in Public Health, and let me tell you, from the two of them and the reading I've done....as a general rule, Doctors and Medical Researchers and to a huge extent most other clinicians, do not attend to the social aspects of health with regard to causation, development, healing, compliance, or explanations for disease. Risky behaviors that make no sense to doctors become clear to sociologists only through a lot of gentle prodding and consuming curiosity. People really have a hard time being honest about their actual sexual practices (and other taboo subjects), even in anonymous surveys that are sealed, preventing the person who administers the survey from seeing the answers. That said, it's very valuable work.
Checking into scholar.google.com with the search "Broward HIV" gets 1500 or so hits. Broward is a county in Florida, and has a very, very high rate of HIV transmission. Investigating this one tiny slice of the world has led to some interesting insights and further questions about the topic.
posted by bilabial at 3:56 AM on November 29, 2011