All kinds of outbreaks, from COVID-19 to violence, share the same principles
The Rules of ContagionAdam KucharskiBasic Books, $30 Epidemiologists like to say, “If you’ve seen one pandemic, you’ve seen … one pandemic.” But behind each outbreak lie core principles that help explain why the outbreak began, why it grew, why it peaked when it did and why it ended. In The Rules of Contagion, mathematician and epidemiologist Adam Kucharski of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine outlines those principles and shows how they apply beyond infectious disease, to the spread of ideas, financial crises, violence and more. Kucharski hardly mentions the novel coronavirus sweeping the globe. He was just wrapping up final edits when the first cases of COVID-19 appeared in Wuhan, China. But the book still feels extraordinarily prescient. Kucharski provides context for readers to understand the current pandemic, as well as a framework for thinking about other types of contagious spread. Science News spoke with Kucharski about the principles of...