Rating: 
Summary: Good, doesn't go far enough though
Review: This book's largest contribution, I think, is the meticulous way that it documents how most scientists don't belong in the room assessing threats and intelligence any more than one should turn to them for business strategy. Scientists, by training and temperament, are usually people who will argue that the sky isn't blue, and won't believe anything until it is proved beyond the shadow of a doubt. Even then, they maintain skepticism. It's their profession to do so. What is worse, they tend to have an overweening self confidence and certainty. The activity and conclusions of Meselson in particular, in convincing the DOD and presidents that biological weapons were not being worked on, is a case history that should give leaders pause. Very well meaning, having learned a specific way of arriving at scientific truth by painstaking repeated experiment and results, he was utterly and completely wrong, and incapable of understanding his limitations or lack of fitness for the role that he grabbed for himself in determining policy. I can say that this is the achilles heel of the scientific community of advisers. Scientists are, with rare exceptions, thought followers, not leaders, and unable to project the knowledge they establish forward. If this were not true, scientists would be almost universally wealthy, and excellent inventors and engineers. But who invented the personal computer? Who invented thousands of other things and took them forward? Who understands disruptive technologies, scientists or venture capitalists? The reason I say that this book doesn't go far enough is that even people like Lederer, who also mean very well, and have worked so hard to stop genetic engineering being used for weapons, are UTTERLY out of their MINDS and extremely dangerous to you and I. They have backed us into a corner with biological weapons; a corner which we are quite likely to all die in. I kid you not. Why do I say this? Because it is the sheerest academic hubris to think that high level scientists are required to invent new biological weapons. As a matter of fact, scientists, in general, are the least qualified to invent such things. They have little interest in it, they don't tend to engineering creativity. The computer profession has learned this very well. PhD and MS degrees in computer science are if little value in the real world as a rule. Anyone at all can work on computer viruses, or software to do anything one might like. All they need is tools and manuals. Microsoft was not built by employing PhDs folks. PhD computer scientists have contributed very little to the software profession beyond the invention of the basic electronics and concept. Genetic engineering, as the technology becomes more disseminated and more automated, becomes more and more of a computer exercise. Like the software profession, genetic engineering innovations will follow as this knowledge dissemination explodes outward which the academic crowd will have trouble simply tracking. Since these scientists do not have a lock on this knowledge, and since the technology is not terribly expensive, how could anyone in their right mind think that they could control the development of biological weapons simply by legislating them out of the US military budget? For god's sake, that is farcical! And yet - that is what we have done. That means that had Lederer and others actually thought the matter through, they would have realized that every effort to block the development of biological weapons by nations did NOTHING except raising our vulnerability to biological weapons. All we have done is to stick our head in the sand collectively. So we have arrived, right now, at a juncture where such weapons can be conceived and produced by anyone who cares to learn the technology. And nobody seems to realize it! We are like a people who, having discovered gunpowder, have decided that we will only allow anyone to even think about using it for firecrackers. Meanwhile, the barbarians are out there, and they are inventing guns. We, congratulating ourselves on what good guys we are, are spending all our energy developing and defending against bows, arrows, spears and swords. It's obvious to a dimwit who is going to win in a biological war if the barbarians do their homework right. You should be far more frightened than you are. Nobody takes this seriously enough.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting but not Harrowing
Review: "Germs" covers the recent history of biological warfare as well as may be expected, given the extremely secretive nature of the subject. It sheds light on the fact that America is very unprepared for a massive biological attack, yet at the same time is not likely to experience one. While small-scale attacks are possible and maybe even likely to occur, the fact is that they are not likely to succeed to any great extent due to the difficulty of creating a bug that is sufficiently virulent and able to survive on its own outside of the lab. Certainly more can and should be done to prevent and/or contain any such attacks, but at the same time, people should not be losing much sleep over it.
Probably the most interesting thing about this book is the level of paranoia and moral superiority displayed by the American government. They spent so much time and money scrutinizing the Soviet Union, sure that they were violating the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention of 1972, even after the collapse of the Union. And of course, the soviets were doing just that and even admitted to it. But the level of moral superiority is just disgusting, as the U.S. was just as guilty as they were, probably even more guilty than the book leads one to believe.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Account
Review: I read this book for the purpose of gaining an understanding of the dangers of bio-terrorism and wanted to be more informed on national preparedness to this threat. This book was well written, well researched, balanced, and informative. It showed the increasing importance bio-terrorism is playing on public decisions. The first part of the book gives a little history of germ warfare already instigated by radical terrorist groups, and the role it played in the Cold War. In more recent history, concerns about possible germ warfare and/or bio terrorist attacks led to certain actions in the era of Desert Storm. I would have desired the book progress from giving an excellent historical account to explaining the current public debate, Is there protection to be afforded by spending money on public health measures ? Is protection feasible given the variety of microbes that can be created in a world where gene splicing is becoming commonplace? Is a good defense possible in the future?
Rating:
Summary: A chilling, reality check !
Review: Germs: Biological Weapons and American's Secret War.
Three journalists/authors Judith Miller, Stephen Engelberg, and William Broad have created an eye opening, heart pounding and a thought-provoking book. Using information collected from declassified government materials and interviews ranging from Russian scientists to top United States officials like President Clinton, it tells how American is/was involved in Biological warfare and how prepared is the United States for a Biological attack. Starting with the 1st Biological attack on American in 1988 on the town of Dalles, Oregon and how easily it was for a cult to spread Biological germs infecting nearly 1000 people of that community. In the after math of the destruction of the Twin Towers and the Anthrax scare here on American soil makes the words in this book take on a whole new meaning. The book conveys that this question as been kick around for many years "Should the United States protect its self from a Biological attack?"
GREMS sheds light on events that began in the 50's and 60's of the United States experimenting with Germ warfare and the development of devices to spread these agents to the present giving explanations on how and why we arrived at September 11, 2001 and the present day war in Iraq. How the United States Government reacted to other countries involved in making these Biological weapons. GERMS uses the combination of declassified government papers and interviews to place one in real timeline sequence events as though standing in the room being part of the conversation. Explaining the information in full compared to the bits and pieces that we as Americans are accustomed to get from the government. With the extensive research and the knowledge of government and politics, the writers of GERMS allow one to physically feel emotions as one learns the truth behind events publicly known and some not so publicly known. Finding out why the vaccination supplies in the United States are low due to the cost of production. Cut backs would had to take place but no one was willing to give. Instead they changed there thinking to "They would not use biological weapons because bomb do more damage". The information presented is mind-boggling.
The book is easy to understand; knowing that the government and scientists uses words that the common public does not understand, the authors using these technical terms goes one step farther, explaining what it means. Although the authors are journalist they have not pre-formed ones opinion, but have stated facts in a logical order so one can come to their own opinion/conclusion. GERMS does however as a whole, points out that Biological warfare in a "war" sense might never happen, but the danger is true and present. After reading this book one will know the facts, the reasoning behind and understand why, we as Americans should be concerned with Biological Weapons. Above all poses the knowledge and understanding why things are happening today.
To gain the insight into the world we live in today and the real thinking behind the government officials, GREMS must be on top of one's "to read list". One will understand where America's future might be headed. Are we really safe?
Rating:
Summary: Excellent review of historical and current events
Review: After attending a course on weapons of mass destruction, I read Germs because it was recommended by one of the instructors. I am a law enforcement supervisor and manage a team of hazmat officers. I found Germs to be very well written and well documented. Judith Miller does an outstanding job of providing the history of chemical and biological warfare in order to place current events into the proper perspective. Ms. Miller then goes on to bring the reader up to date in current events, to include information about Iraq and North Korea. Ms. Miller has done a great job of researching her material and providing information in an un-biased manner so that the reader can come to their own conclusions. It was refreshing to read a book about a very controversial subject and not have a particular point of view jammed down your throat. Germs will give the reader a well rounded knowledge of not only different chemical and biological weapons but also the terrorists and governments that might use them. It also provide realistic information with which you can use to make your own threat assessment with. Other books that I have read subsequent to this, have supported Ms. Miller's findings. I would strongly recommend Germs for anyone.
Rating:
Summary: A detailed and shocking look at biowarfare
Review: Germs is a shocking book. Written by writers from the New York Times, it provides an interesting look at how America and the rest of the world researched biological weapons, and discusses the possible threat to the US.
Starting off with a little known incident in the western United States, the book details how easily a cult was able to poison an entire town and how little the incident got out into the media.
From there, the information goes chronologically, starting with World War II and going through the cold war to present time. There, the workings of the biological programs are shown, and it's shocking. It explains the weapons that we made, such as Anthrax, Plague, Botulinum Toxin and others. The authors write as if it's actually happening as you read, and don't reveal things until they happened in 'time'. Much of the information about the Russian bioweapons research doesn't come in until a defector explains everything to the army in the early 90s.
From everything in the book, it is startling how un prepared we are for this new kind of war. Paticularly interesting was the Army's lack of interest in vaccines until it was almost too late. From the book, the US is unprepared for a biological weapons attack. That is changing, and those changes are shown at the end.
This is a quick read, and very easy to get into. It's a great read for anyone who is interested in this subject, but not if you're too worried about the possibilities that the book presents.
Rating:
Summary: Very Interesting
Review: I found this book to be very interesting and a little upsetting to think about the world and what could and what has happened!
Rating:
Summary: Germs is indeed a sobering and well-documented review
Review: Germs is indeed a sobering and well-documented review of historical man generated biological events as they transpired. Of significant note it is important to realize how the burden of Chem & Bioterror and Chem & Bioweapons affected former President Clinton and now President Bush. Had it not been for President Clinton's perseverance into organizing an "Anti-terror Chem & Bioterror" group, we might not be as far along as we are now. One must look to current events now and see why there is a sense of urgency to contain and protect.
Rating:
Summary: germs, germs everywhere
Review: After a sudden recent interest in internal affairs and biological material, I thought it was a good time to pick this book off my shelf and read it. Germ attacks have become a major issue, yet many people do not know even the slightest information about biological warfare. This book helped fill me in on a broad view of the biological program, but at the same time it went extremely in depth and discussed essential specifics that helped me get the in-depth grasp that I needed to better comprehend biological warefare. I thought that the newsy approach and style were great, because, although it is a fact-filled book, they keep the reader coming back for more. With the authors many different angles, their journalistic approach, and just the relevance of the topic, I believe that this book is a must read for anyone who wants to keep up with current happenings about biological warefare or just learn a little about recent history.
Rating:
Summary: Must Read For the 21st century
Review: If you are interested in Americas "secret" war on Bioterrorism, this is a must read. This book gives detail on our on going war with chemical weapons. It will give the reader an insight on who possesses these weapons of mass destruction, and what people are doing to safe guard their citizens.
If you want to be educated on a topic that is not far from our future, i recommend this book.
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