Parasite Rex: Inside the Bizarre World of Nature's Most Dangerous CreaturesCombining the literary sensibility of David Quammen with the scientific rigor of Stephen Jay Gould, Carl Zimmer reveals the power, danger, and beauty of the surprising creatures who dominate the earth: parasites. For centuries, parasites have lived in nightmares, horror stories, and the darkest shadows of science. In Parasite Rex, Carl Zimmer takes readers on a fantastic voyage into the secret universe of these extraordinary life-forms—which are not only among the most highly evolved on Earth, but make up the majority of life’s diversity. Traveling from the steamy jungles of Costa Rica to the parasite-riddled war zone of southern Sudan, Zimmer introduces an array of amazing creatures that invade their hosts, prey on them from within, and control their behavior. He also vividly describes parasites that can change DNA, rewire the brain, make men more distrustful and women more outgoing, and turn hosts into the living dead. This comprehensive, gracefully written book brings parasites out into the open and uncovers what they can teach us all about the most fundamental survival tactics in the universe—the laws of Parasite Rex. |
Contents
Natures Criminals | 1 |
Terra Incognita | 23 |
The Thirty Years War | 55 |
A Precise Horror | 79 |
The Great Step Inward | 118 |
Evolution from Within | 157 |
How to Live in a Parasitic World | 216 |
can be part of a cure | 247 |
Further Reading and Selected Bibliography | 273 |
Acknowledgments | 295 |
Other editions - View all
Parasite Rex: Inside the Bizarre World of Nature's Most Dangerous Creatures Carl Zimmer Limited preview - 2000 |
Common terms and phrases
Africa animals antibodies asites attack bacteria beetle behavior biological biologists birds bladder worms blood flukes body brain Brooks carry cassava caterpillar cause chemicals copepods crawl creatures cysts disease ecology ecosystem eggs eukaryotes evolution evolutionary evolved female fight fish flies forests frog fungus genes genetic parasites green crab grow guinea worm hatch healthy Herren Hoberg hookworm host’s human immune cells immune system infected intestines invade kill Lafferty Lankester larvae Leishmania live inside liver look macrophages malaria male mammals mate mealybug million years ago molecules mosquito nematodes once organisms PARASITE REX parasite’s parasitic wasps Parasitic World parasitologists plants Plasmodium Precise Horror predators proteins protozoa rats red blood cell Sacculina salt marsh scientists sexual skin sleeping sickness snails sort species Sukhdeo swim Tambura tapeworms there’s thousands toad Toxoplasma tree Trichinella trypanosomes turn vaccine virus viruses