The new science of contagion, and the surprising ways it shapes our lives and behaviour
Adam Kucharski is an associate professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, working on global outbreaks such as the Ebola epidemic and the Zika virus. He is a TED fellow and winner of the 2016 Rosalind Franklin Award Lecture and the 2012 Wellcome Trust Science Writing Prize. He has written for the Observer, Financial Times, Scientific American, and New Statesman. He is the author of The Perfect Bet: How Science and Maths Are Taking the Luck Out of Gambling.
An astonishingly bold survey of the epidemiology of more or less
everything in our inter-connected world ... Kucharski has pulled
off the extraordinary trick of shining the brightest light on this
unseen, menacing, but ultimately beatable, enemy.
*Daily Mail*
An impressively fluent, fascinating and accessible introduction to
how epidemics, trends, behaviours and ideas start, spread - and end
... a work of contemporary relevance that Malcolm Gladwell devotees
would enjoy.
*New Statesman*
Perfect timing ... prepares the ground comprehensively for readers
to make sense of what is happening today, by distilling the wisdom
gathered by studying previous epidemics over more than a
century.
*Financial Times*
The Rules of Contagion is popular science at its best. The prose is
sparkling and clear. The subject is deeply fascinating and highly
relevant. Touching on psychology, medicine, network theory and
mathematics, epidemiologist Adam Kucharski has written a brilliant
and authoritative guide to the hidden laws of how things spread -
from ideas and memes, to violence and deadly viruses. An example of
its subject matter, this book is also highly contagious: once you
have read it, you will want to make sure others read it too.
*Alex Bellos, author of Alex's Adventures in Numberland*
It is hard to imagine a more timely book ... much of the modern
world will make more sense having read it.
*The Times*
Perhaps no commentator has been in greater demand this year than
Adam Kucharski ... The Rules of Contagion is an accessible guide to
the mathematical rules that govern the spread of infectious
diseases in populations ... [which] makes a convincing case that
just as mathematics can predict the arc of an epidemic, so it can
also help us understand how social contagions, from financial
panics to vaccine conspiracy theories, "go viral".
*Observer*
Adam Kucharski [is] fast becoming a key voice of reason in the
media circus surrounding the virus ... Here he gives a clear, calm,
historical overview of the mathematical ideas at the forefront of
our pandemic response, where they came from and how well they stand
up when you put them to the test.
*Guardian*
This is a hell of a moment for a book like this to come out ... the
principles of contagion, which, Kucharski argues, can be applied to
everything from folk stories and financial crises to itching and
loneliness, are suddenly of pressing interest to all of us.
*Sunday Times*
Rich in stories, The Rules of Contagion is a down-to-earth account
of how mathematical approaches can help us better understand and,
in turn, better respond to contagion in all its dynamic forms.
Tackling issues from pandemics and gun violence, to financial
crises and misinformation, Adam Kucharski inspires us all to think
like mathematicians. A must read for anybody interested in
epidemics and other crises.
*Peter Piot, Director of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical
Medicine*
For anyone wanting to know how diseases spread, Adam Kucharski's
book, The Rules of Contagion is a timely introduction.
*Irish Independent*
For now Adam Kucharski's The Rules of Contagion is the book you
want to reach for ... interesting and topical
*Guardian*
Illuminating ... Coronavirus has prompted hot-headed public and
media reaction; this book offers comfort in the form of cold, hard
facts.
*Prospect Magazine*
One of the Economist's 'five books of science and history that cast
light on covid-19': This book charts the history of this
now-pivotal science, from its origins in understanding the spread
of malaria at the turn of the twentieth century, to its central
role in predicting the dissemination of everything from diseases to
fake news in the twenty-first.
*Economist*
The Rules of Contagion is a timely reminder of the importance of
disease modelling. Without such models, we would be in far greater
trouble battling COVID-19.
*Lancet*
Lively, intriguing and elegant
*Spectator*
A geeky but fascinating exploration of the mathematics of things
that go viral-not least of them viruses ... Kucharski takes his
readers down provocative detours, such as the use of public-health
models of disease transmission to examine how social networks
figure in urban gun violence, with algorithms that take into
account such things as 'age, gang affiliations, and prior
arrests.'... Utterly timely and readable.
*Kirkus*
[A] smart and engaging tour of epidemiology
*New York Times*
Kucharski, an epidemiologist at the London School of Hygiene &
Tropical Medicine, finished his book just before the coronavirus
pandemic so it does not address Covid-19 directly. But it provides
all the background you need to know how and why infections spread -
not only germs but also misinformation about them.
*FT*
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