Hooper’s quest
The most widely accepted theory for the source of HIV is that it originated
in chimpanzees and jumped species through physical contact with humans in a
central African forest. In The River, Edward Hooper explores another
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theory: that it jumped species through a well-meaning attempt to vaccinate
children against polio in West Africa. Researchers used slices of kidney from
chimpanzees to culture poliovirus. Hooper suggest a way to test his idea: sample
the tissues on which the vaccine was nurtured. The introduction is by biologist
Bill Hamilton, who died recently after catching malaria as he followed up clues
to the origin of HIV. Published by Penguin, £10.99, ISBN 0140283773.
Read me quick
The witty cover, “FSTR JMS GLCK”, could be enough to lure in those
readers who missed the hardback version last year. Faster by James
Gleick, in case you hadn’t guessed, is about society’s obsession with
speed, and with doing things quickly to save time. One example is lifts with
doors designed to close in such a way as to hurry people more effectively
towards them. Our reviewer had mixed feelings about Faster last year (30 October
1999, p 52), but you could always speed-read your way through it. Published by
Abacus, £8.99, ISBN 0349112924.
What ale’s you?
“If a monk drinks till he vomits, he must do thirty days’ penance,” advised
the Irish priest St Cummian in the 7th century, although the drinker would be
let off if he did it “in excess of joy on Christmas or Easter Days, or the
commemoration of some saint”. There are many similar vignettes in Griffith
Edwards’s Alcohol: The ambiguous molecule, an analysis of the social
consequences of the occasional or not-so-occasional tipple. If you enjoyed a
glass or two with 91av’s alcohol issue (27 November 1999) but
thirst for more, this one’s for you. Edwards does not denounce alcohol, nor
does he sing its praises, but his account is pretty chilling. Russia’s
rising death toll, for example, is almost a convincing enough argument for state
control of alcohol. Published by Penguin, £7.99, ISBN 0140266666.
Mountain lobelia
The photographs in Pyramids of Life are as fascinating as the
science. It is a bold attempt by Harvey Croze (words) and John Reader (pictures)
to convey the complexity of ecosystems while explaining what they are. They
focus on Africa and on species such as the giant lobelia, which grows in poor
soils in mountain regions where it has to cope with vast, sudden temperatures
changes, high doses of solar radiation and water loss. Published next week by
the Harvill Press, £19.99, ISBN 1860466133.
