Part Two of the Hot Zone

      While reading the Hot Zone it's really simple to see connections and sometimes it can make you questions  why the scientists aren't seeing what appears to be right under their noses. But then I started to take  a step back and think about how much detail went into making this book. The people in this book each have a story and a past related to Ebola and/or Marburg and Richard Preston is capable of telling that story down to the most minute details like what they had for dinner, or what they did the night they made huge discoveries. It's incredible considering some of these people are dead. The fact that Preston obtained some of this information is a miracle when a lot of it is as mysterious as a person's opinions and thoughts. Each person in this book knows only a part of the story of the filoviruses but together, they make the Hot Zone.
       I find the Hot Zone interesting, particularly Part Two, because this is a different kind of science than most students are used to. High schoolers are still learning the basics, obviously. We're rediscovering the things that have already been discovered. That's why reading the Hot Zone is cool because it shows scientists going into new territory. These people don't know much about Ebola or Marburg. They're physically researching, not just looking through sources. They are the source.
I think it's important for people to see the scientific process, especially if they want to go into science, and the Hot Zone does that. Because of this, The Hot Zone's success, in my opinion, is a huge benefit to science programs.

My questions is, although I understand that during an undertaking as hugely chaotic as a biocontainment, it's important to try to step on as few toes as possible, but with something that's as critical as this, why can't everyone push the politics of the situation aside? There are lives at stake. You'd think everyone would agree that taking action is more important than deciding whose job it is to take action.