Gerald Astor (1926–2007)

While extremely out of date, this was still an enjoyable read. The work of the CDC is endlessly fascinating and the author samples not just their work as disease detectives, but also their work as expert statisticians combating things like traffic fatalities or gun violence. He took a swipe at Paul De Kruif’s microbe hunters, which was a bit like seeing someone who passes out religious pamphlets on the street talking about what hacks Matthew, Mark , Luke and John were.
For a more thrilling and later book on some similar topics…. Check out Laurie Garret’s the coming plague… (mehr)

In the skies of World War II Europe, the Eighth Air Force was a defining factor in turning the tide against the Nazis. In these gripping oral histories, the sacrifice, savagery, and supremacy of the “Mighty Eighth” is described by those who experienced it...and survived it.

At the outbreak of World War II, America was woefully unprepared for a fight, though Europe was already years into the battle. Soon, though, America’s war machine was rolling out pilots, engineers, planes, and materials in astounding numbers. It was called the Eighth Air Force—and it would hit the Nazi juggernaut like a lightning bolt.

Launching a then-groundbreaking campaign of daylight bombing runs, the men of the Eighth would suffer more casualties than the entire Marine Corps in the Pacific campaign of WW2.… (mehr)