{"title":"Carl Zimmer","description":"Carl Zimmer writes the \"Origins\" column for the New York Times and has frequently contributed to the Atlantic, National Geographic, Time,  and Scientific American. His journalism has earned numerous awards, including ones from the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the National Academies of Science, Medicine, and Engineering. Zimmer is professor adjunct at Yale, where he teaches writing. He is the author of fourteen books about science, including Life's Edge.","products":[{"product_id":"air-borne-the-hidden-history-of-the-life-we-breathe-hardcover","title":"Air-Borne: The Hidden History of the Life We Breathe - Hardcover","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eOne of \u003ci\u003eSmithsonian Magazine\u003c\/i\u003e's Ten Best Science Books of 2025 \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe fascinating, untold story of the air we breathe, the hidden life it contains, and invisible dangers that can turn the world upside down\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eEvery day we draw in two thousand gallons of air--and thousands of living things. From the ground to the stratosphere, the air teems with invisible life. This last great biological frontier remains so mysterious that it took over two years for scientists to finally agree that the Covid pandemic was caused by an airborne virus. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eAir-Borne, \u003c\/i\u003eaward-winning \u003ci\u003eNew York Times \u003c\/i\u003ecolumnist and author Carl Zimmer leads us on an odyssey through the living atmosphere and through the history of its discovery. We travel to the tops of mountain glaciers, where Louis Pasteur caught germs from the air, and follow Amelia Earhart and Charles Lindbergh above the clouds, where they conducted groundbreaking experiments. We meet the long-forgotten pioneers of aerobiology including William and Mildred Wells, who tried for decades to warn the world about airborne infections, only to die in obscurity. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eAir-Borne \u003c\/i\u003echronicles the dark side of aerobiology with gripping accounts of how the United States and the Soviet Union clandestinely built arsenals of airborne biological weapons designed to spread anthrax, smallpox, and an array of other pathogens. \u003ci\u003eAir-Borne \u003c\/i\u003ealso leaves readers looking at the world with new eyes--as a place where the oceans and forests loft trillions of cells into the air, where microbes eat clouds, and where life soars thousands of miles on the wind. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWeaving together gripping history with the latest reporting on Covid and other threats to global health, \u003ci\u003eAir-Borne\u003c\/i\u003e surprises us on every page as it reveals the hidden world of the air.","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51376901259487,"sku":"9780593473597","price":32.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/hdDsDuYbmy9780593473597.webp?v=1789228906"},{"product_id":"evolution-the-triumph-of-an-idea-paperback","title":"Evolution: The Triumph of an Idea - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAward-winning journalist Carl Zimmer collaborates with leading scholars to tell the compelling story of the theory of evolution--from Darwin to 21st century science\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDarwin's\u003cem\u003e The Origin of Specie\u003c\/em\u003es was breathtaking--beautifully written, staunchly defended, defiantly radical. Yet it emerged long before modern genetics, molecular biology, and contemporary findings in paleontology. This remarkable book presents a rich and up-to-date view of evolution that explores the far-reaching implications of Darwin's theory and emphasizes the power, significance, and relevance of evolution to our lives today. After all, we ourselves are the product of evolution, and we can tackle many of our gravest challenges -- from lethal resurgence of antibiotic-resistant diseases to the wave of extinctions that looms before us -- with a sound understanding of the science.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eEvolution\u003c\/em\u003e is an indispensable asset to any serious reader with an interest in the life sciences, a passion for truth in education, or a concern for the future of the planet.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eBack Jacket\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis remarkable book presents a rich and up-to-date view of evolution that explores the far-reaching implications of Darwin's theory and emphasizes the power, significance, and relevance of evolution to our lives today. After all, we ourselves are the product of evolution, and we can tackle many of our gravest challenges -- from lethal resurgence of antiobiotic-resistant diseases to the wave of extinctions that looms before us -- with a sound understanding of the science.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51379067846879,"sku":"9780061138409","price":18.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/8GKgqGwU59780061138409.webp?v=1789268479"},{"product_id":"parasite-rex-inside-the-bizarre-world-of-natures-most-dangerous-creatures-paperback","title":"Parasite Rex: Inside the Bizarre World of Nature's Most Dangerous Creatures - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eIN THIS REISSUED PAPERBACK EDITION WITH A NEW EPILOGUE, CARL ZIMMER REVEALS THE POWER, DANGER, AND BEAUTY OF 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.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51379094225119,"sku":"9780743200110","price":18.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/YV6Me6oKTk9780743200110.webp?v=1789268548"},{"product_id":"she-has-her-mothers-laugh-the-powers-perversions-and-potential-of-heredity-paperback","title":"She Has Her Mother's Laugh: The Powers, Perversions, and Potential of Heredity - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e2019 PEN\/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award Finalist \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Science book of the year\"\u003cb\u003e--\u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Guardian\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eOne of \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e 100 Notable Books for 2018\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eOne of \u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e's Top Ten Books of 2018\u003cbr\u003eOne of \u003ci\u003eKirkus\u003c\/i\u003e's Best Books of 2018 \u003cbr\u003eOne of Mental Floss's Best Books of 2018\u003cbr\u003eOne of Science Friday's Best Science Books of 2018\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"Extraordinary\"--\u003ci\u003eNew York Times Book Review \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\"Magisterial\"--\u003ci\u003eThe Atlantic\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"Engrossing\"--\u003ci\u003eWired\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"Leading contender as the most outstanding nonfiction work of the year\"--\u003ci\u003eMinneapolis Star-Tribune\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCelebrated \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e columnist and science writer Carl Zimmer presents a profoundly original perspective on what we pass along from generation to generation. Charles Darwin played a crucial part in turning heredity into a scientific question, and yet he failed spectacularly to answer it. The birth of genetics in the early 1900s seemed to do precisely that. Gradually, people translated their old notions about heredity into a language of genes. As the technology for studying genes became cheaper, millions of people ordered genetic tests to link themselves to missing parents, to distant ancestors, to ethnic identities... \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eBut, Zimmer writes, \"Each of us carries an amalgam of fragments of DNA, stitched together from some of our many ancestors. Each piece has its own ancestry, traveling a different path back through human history. A particular fragment may sometimes be cause for worry, but most of our DNA influences who we are--our appearance, our height, our penchants--in inconceivably subtle ways.\" Heredity isn't just about genes that pass from parent to child. Heredity continues within our own bodies, as a single cell gives rise to trillions of cells that make up our bodies. We say we inherit genes from our ancestors--using a word that once referred to kingdoms and estates--but we inherit other things that matter as much or more to our lives, from microbes to technologies we use to make life more comfortable. We need a new definition of what heredity is and, through Carl Zimmer's lucid exposition and storytelling, this resounding tour de force delivers it. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWeaving historical and current scientific research, his own experience with his two daughters, and the kind of original reporting expected of one of the world's best science journalists, Zimmer ultimately unpacks urgent bioethical quandaries arising from new biomedical technologies, but also long-standing presumptions about who we really are and what we can pass on to future generations.","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51379095371999,"sku":"9781101984611","price":22.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/PPJJFxnupe9781101984611.webp?v=1789268551"},{"product_id":"microcosm-e-coli-and-the-new-science-of-life-paperback","title":"Microcosm: E. Coli and the New Science of Life - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA Best Book of the Year\u003ci\u003eSeed Magazine \u003c\/i\u003e- \u003ci\u003eGranta Magazine \u003c\/i\u003e- \u003ci\u003eThe Plain-Dealer\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003eIn this fascinating and utterly engaging book, Carl Zimmer traces \u003ci\u003eE. coli\u003c\/i\u003e's pivotal role in the history of biology, from the discovery of DNA to the latest advances in biotechnology. He reveals the many surprising and alarming parallels between \u003ci\u003eE. coli\u003c\/i\u003e's life and our own. And he describes how \u003ci\u003eE. coli \u003c\/i\u003echanges in real time, revealing billions of years of history encoded within its genome. \u003ci\u003eE. coli\u003c\/i\u003e is also the most engineered species on Earth, and as scientists retool this microbe to produce life-saving drugs and clean fuel, they are discovering just how far the definition of life can be stretched.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51379401720031,"sku":"9780307276865","price":19.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/mo1DZut_PA9780307276865.webp?v=1789272465"}],"url":"https:\/\/blackandbarhe.com\/collections\/carl-zimmer.oembed","provider":"Black \u0026 Barhe Bookstore","version":"1.0","type":"link"}