While the work reported on in “Infectious Madness” seems powerful and indeed paradigm-shifting, Washington often fails to tease apart the complexities and nuances of the complicated science she is outlining, limiting herself to a rather reductive point of view. At one point, for example, she details the idea some researchers have that pathogenic infections help shape societies and major historical events, because evolution has selected for us to distrust the infected. It’s here that she is on thinnest ice — failing to take seriously the role of other factors like economics, cultural pressures and local history.
This is a very thorough and balanced review.
No comments:
Post a Comment