What's Eating You? People and Parasites

Eugene Kaplan, author of “What's Eating You? People and Parasites,” a fun, newly published layman's book on his personal tales and academic experiences with parasites, describes himself and others “like me, who wander through field and feces, [as] anachronisms.” It is this “aberrant” angle, a branch of science he loves, yet he believes is considered outdated and “with no practical intent,” that draws you in, unless the feeling Kaplan elicits is “old hat” for you. Perhaps you are already aware of the struggles of the “non-scientist” having read years back the wonderful self-examination of biology and biologists by Price (1967). Okay, why write a book about something one thinks is not practical and then admit it to the reader? He's either humble or perhaps a little overly self-critical, but the product of his labor is a delightful, light-hearted read with terminologically intense language that is actually easy to follow;...