Final thoughts on whether you should read this book
I found the book useful
The parts I found most useful were (a) the early chapters on the history of biowarfare and bioterrorism and (b) the later chapters on attempts to use international law to reduce risks from bioterror and biowarfare
I found parts of the book hard to pay attention to and remember information from
In particular, the middle chapters on various types and examples of pathogens
But this might just be a “me problem”. Ever since high school, I’ve continually noticed that I seem to have a harder time paying attention to and remembering information about biology than information from other disciplines. (I don’t understand what that would be the case, and I’m not certain it’s actually true, but it has definitely seemed true.)
I’m not sure how useful this book would be to someone who already knows a lot about bioterror, biowarfare, and/or chemical weapons
I’m not sure how useful this book would be to someone who doesn’t have much interest in the topics of bioterror, biowarfare, and/or chemical weapons
But I’m inclined to think most longtermists should read consume at least one book’s worth of content from experts on those topics
And I think the book could be somewhat useful for understanding WMDs, international relations, and international law more generally
There might be better books on the topic
In particular, it’s possible a more recent book would be better?
Final thoughts on whether you should read this book
I found the book useful
The parts I found most useful were (a) the early chapters on the history of biowarfare and bioterrorism and (b) the later chapters on attempts to use international law to reduce risks from bioterror and biowarfare
I found parts of the book hard to pay attention to and remember information from
In particular, the middle chapters on various types and examples of pathogens
But this might just be a “me problem”. Ever since high school, I’ve continually noticed that I seem to have a harder time paying attention to and remembering information about biology than information from other disciplines. (I don’t understand what that would be the case, and I’m not certain it’s actually true, but it has definitely seemed true.)
I’m not sure how useful this book would be to someone who already knows a lot about bioterror, biowarfare, and/or chemical weapons
I’m not sure how useful this book would be to someone who doesn’t have much interest in the topics of bioterror, biowarfare, and/or chemical weapons
But I’m inclined to think most longtermists should read consume at least one book’s worth of content from experts on those topics
And I think the book could be somewhat useful for understanding WMDs, international relations, and international law more generally
There might be better books on the topic
In particular, it’s possible a more recent book would be better?