I have been reading some books that have meant a lot to me. I want to mention them in case they are of interest to others now or later.
I wanted to know more about viruses. I got a tour of our new campus chemistry-biology building and I saw an electron microscope and a drawing of a virus on the wall beside it. Of course, we have been hearing about coronaviruses for a couple of years now. I don't remember ever hearing about viruses in any sort of course or teaching. When I looked up books about them on Amazon's website, I found "A Planet of Viruses"(2011, 2015) by Carl Zimmer. I also found that the extensive collection from Oxford University called "Very Short Introductions" includes a book by Dorothy H. Crawford about viruses. This same author has several other books about viruses.
In some places, the fact that the existence of very tiny semi-live forms called "virus" is a rather new discovery. I have read that viruses are 1,000 times smaller than bacteria so it is no wonder that they were unknown. Zimmer's book focuses on Dutch farmers facing a disease with their crops of tobacco and asking for help from Adolph Mayer, in 1879. Despite being unable to see viruses, Mayer used methods that convinced him and others that something in the sick plants caused the problem. 1879 is not so long in the past. Zimmner's book makes clear that viruses, their existence, the way they work, and their effects are still being worked out.
It is clear that some viruses are helpful to humans, including ones that modify the actions of some bacteria.
