My favorite popular science books of 2021 (not including the one I wrote)
Plus, the woman who smelled Parkinson's disease. And did a fungus make Brits tea-drinkers?
Hello dear friend,
We approach the end of another year in these unreal times. With it also comes the promise of a new year, 2022.
It has been a strange and relentless year in many ways, but unequivocally exhausting for everyone.
I am reminded of Javier Marías’ insight –
“There is something unhealthy about curiosity, not for the reasons usually given, but because it leads inexorably to exhaustion.”
For me, it was the year that I published a book on the COVID-19 pandemic. I also wrote a number of long-form articles, gave TV and newspaper interviews, hopped on podcasts and webinars, and live-tweeted new research articles. I read over a hundred books and a few thousand research articles and reviews too.
All 33 of the science columns I wrote for Hindustan Times this year are available here. I also started writing a newsletter for The Morning Context, covering how the science of today will lead to the technologies of the future.
With this newsletter I have had an unashamed ulterior motive. I’ve shared what I’ve discovered and how I’ve tried to make sense of the emerging science of viruses, variants, and vaccines. More broadly, I’ve tried to share what I’ve learned about life and nature. Another focus has been trying to find out how we can live better within the constraints of our inherited genes and our immediate surroundings. But more than anything else, as a biologist, I look for exceptions to rules. The goal in finding the quirky is to better appreciate the differences in brains, bodies, and experiences.
Thank you for letting me into your inbox every week.
Sniffing out a serious disease
This week, I wrote about a true story I have been following for a few years now. If it had been fiction, it would’ve been considered implausible.
Joy Milne, a soft-spoken Scottish woman, noticed her husband smelled off. He bathed regularly but the smell wouldn’t go away. Over time, his behavior and movements changed. Over a decade later, after he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, she realized that this was a distinct smell. She could smell it in others who had the disease even if they still hadn’t been diagnosed with it.
Now, each of us has a distinct smell fingerprint made up of over a thousand chemicals that our bodies constantly give off. But this is a superpower that no one in the scientific community had ever seen before. There’s no one we know of who can detect them quite like this.
A couple of scientific papers have been published on this superpower and scientists are using it to train “chemical” noses to pick up the scent of Parkinson’s disease. But the chain of events here is fantastic. If Milne had not had this special gift, if her husband had not had Parkinson’s, if she had not spoken up and mentioned it to scientists, and if scientists had not taken her claims seriously and studied it with open minds, this gift might’ve remained unknown.
Did a fungus make Brits tea-drinkers?
The other story I wrote about this week also connects science with society.
Today, Sri Lanka is famous for Ceylon tea – known and loved worldwide. The British drink voluminous amounts of tea and consider it their national drink. But what is perhaps forgotten is that in the mid-1800s, Sri Lanka was the largest producer of coffee in the world. A fungal rust wiped out coffee production and changed the course of the island’s history.
Unfortunately, this destructive tale is far from being relegated to the history books. More than a century later, the same fungus that wreaked havoc has spread to South and Central America. It is a major threat to the important coffee crop.
I found out that many plant pathologists think this shift from coffee to tea in Ceylon is the reason why Brits drink so much tea. In fact, it is mentioned as the main reason in Gail L. Schumann’s Plant Diseases: Their Biology and Social Impact.
As I dug deeper into the records from the 1800s, I realized that the truth is probably a little more complicated. The loss of coffee was devastating to Sri Lanka but many coffee-drinkers in the British Isles were able to find other sources of their coffee. There are other plausible reasons why tea is preferred to coffee. But regardless this is an intriguing supply-chain story from another era.
My Favorite Popular Science Books of 2021 (Not Including the One I Wrote).
I did a list last year in November. This list includes some of the amazing books I’ve read this year. I’ve left out my own book because duh! it would obviously make any list. ;-)
I’ve also left out what I think is the popular science book of the year because I want to talk about it next week. So in no particular order, here goes—
The Memory Thief by Lauren Aguirre
The Silken Thread by Robert Wiedenmann and J. Ray Fisher
Masala Lab: The Science of Indian Cooking by Krish Ashok
What is Life? by Sir Paul Nurse
The Future We Choose: Surviving the Climate Crisis by Christiana Figueres and Tom Rivett-Carnac
Salt Wars: The Battle Over the Biggest Killer in the American Diet by Michael Jacobson
Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe
The Sleeping Beauties and Other Stories of Mystery Illness by Suzanne O’Sullivan
The Next 500 Years by Christopher Mason
How Not to Be Wrong by Jordan Ellenberg
The Science of Science by Albert-László Barabási and Dashun Wang
Atlas of Poetic Zoology by Emmanuelle Pouydebat
How to Avoid a Climate Crisis by Bill Gates
Silent Earth: Averting the Insect Apocalypse by David Goulson
The Mold in Dr Florey's Coat by Eric Lax
That’s it for now. Take care. I’ll see you again soon,
Anirban
I was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease a year ago at the age of 67. For several months I had noticed tremors in my right hand and the shaking of my right foot when I was sitting. My normally beautiful cursive writing was now small cramped printing. And I tended to lose my balance. Neurologist had me walk down the hall and said I didn't swing my right arm. I had never noticed! I was in denial for a while as there is no history in my family of parents and five older siblings, but I had to accept I had classic symptoms. I was taking amantadine and carbidopa/levodopa and was about to start physical therapy to strengthen muscles. Finally, I was introduced to Kycuyu Health Clinic and their effective Parkinson’s herbal protocol. This protocol relieved symptoms significantly, even better than the medications I was given. Visit ww w. kycuyuhealthclinic. c om. After First month on treatment, my tremors mysterious stopped, had improvement walking. After I completed the treatment, all symptoms were gone. I live a more productive life. I was fortunate to have the loving support of my husband and family. I make it a point to appreciate every day!