New York Times Science Columnist Carl Zimmer Discusses “Air-Borne”

St. Louis County Library Foundation’s Favorite Author Series and Left Bank Books are pleased to host renowned science writer Carl Zimmer for a discussion and signing of “Air-Borne: The Hidden History of the Air We Breathe.”

The event will take place on Thursday, February 27, 7:00 p.m. at the Clark Family Branch, 1640 S. Lindbergh Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63131. Books will be available for purchase and signing from Left Bank Books.

New York Times “Origins” columnist, Carl Zimmer presents the fascinating story of the air we breathe, the hidden life it contains, and invisible dangers that can turn the world upside down.

Every 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. 

In “Air-Borne,” 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.

“Air-Borne” chronicles 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. “Air-Borne” also 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.

Weaving together gripping history with the latest reporting on Covid and other threats to global health, “Air-Borne” surprises us on every page as it reveals the hidden world of the air.

CARL ZIMMER writes the Origins column for The New York Times and has frequently contributed to The Atlantic, National Geographic, Time, and Scientific American. He has won the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s Science Journalism Award three times, among a host of other awards and fellowships. He teaches science writing at Yale, has been a guest on NPR’s RadioLab, Science Friday, and Fresh Air. He is the author of 13 books about science.

Program sites are accessible. With at least two weeks' notice, accommodations will be made for persons with disabilities. Call 314-994-3300 or contact us.