26 Richard Preston Quotes for You to Enjoy

Richard Preston

American Writer

About Down Nature Science Time You

Related authors: Dale Carnegie Denis Waitley Dr. Seuss H. L. Mencken Napoleon Hill Ray Bradbury W. E. B. Du Bois William Arthur Ward

We're creating these massive urban areas in the Third World. It's like you take the entire population of California and put it in one city. Then you remove basic sanitation and medical services, and you have a ticking biological time bomb. Richard Preston

Time You World Remove City Entire Area Take Put Like Ticking Massive California Time Bomb Urban Urban Areas Then Creating Sanitation Population Bomb Medical Basic Services Biological Third Third World

What the experts are telling me is that there's very little chance that Ebola is going to mutate into something that could spread directly through the air. The real concern is not whether Ebola could go airborne, but whether it could spread faster. Richard Preston

Me Faster Air Telling Something Directly Could Through Concern Real Spread Go Very Going Whether Experts Little Chance

The seeds of a redwood are released from cones that are about the size of olives. The heartwood of the tree is a dark, shimmery red in color, like old claret. The wood has a lemony scent and is extremely resistant to rot. Richard Preston

Dark Old Scent Tree Extremely Released Seeds About Color Red Like Redwood Wood Size Rot Resistant

If ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny, then children are somewhat closer to our roots as primates in the arboreal forest. Humans appear to be the only primates that I know of that are afraid of heights. All other primates, when they're scared, they run up a tree, where they feel safe. Richard Preston

If a portion of a redwood is rotting, the redwood will send roots into its own form and draw nutrients out of itself as it falls apart. If we had redwood-like biology, if we got a touch of gangrene in our arm, then we could just, you know, extract the nutrients and the moisture out of it until it fell off. Richard Preston

You Will Own Biology Extract Our Nutrients Draw Out Touch Could Had Arm Know Fell Until Got Redwood Falls Off Itself Send Just Form Apart Then Roots Rotting Portion

Fox bought the rights to the book way back when, and there was this attempt by Fox to make a movie out of 'The Hot Zone,' and it tended tragically in a Hollywood disaster involving Robert Redford and Jodie Foster and Ridley Scott. But the rights have been sitting at Fox ever since. Richard Preston

Rights Book Back Way Out Jodie Foster Attempt Bought Hot Since Disaster Robert Involving Robert Redford Make Been Tragically Scott Sitting Movie Hollywood Foster Ridley Scott Ever Zone Fox

It turns out, from what I hear, that roasted fruit bats are delicious. Richard Preston

Fruit Bats Out Delicious Hear Turns

As life forms, viruses are just inherently interesting. It's the microworld - this universe of life too small for us to see - but it's profoundly complicated, and immensely powerful. Ebola is like a beautiful and frightening predator. There is a wonder in the operations of nature that can't be denied, even when we're the losers. Richard Preston

Life Beautiful Nature Complicated Universe Too Viruses Immensely See Life Forms Small Powerful Like Operations Losers Denied Wonder Frightening Just Predator Forms Interesting Us Inherently Even Profoundly

I think we sometimes give ourselves a little too much credit as humans, as being able to control and understand nature, when in fact we do neither. Richard Preston

Nature Sometimes Too Much Control Think Too Ourselves Neither Able Give Fact Understand Being In Fact Little Much Credit Humans

AIDS is the revenge of the rain forest. Richard Preston

Rain Revenge AIDS Forest

I had actually finished the manuscript of 'The Wild Trees' and turned it in to Random House when all of a sudden word came. Michael Taylor and his colleague, Chris Atkins, another explorer, have just knocked one out of the park. They found the world's tallest tree. The tree is named Hyperion, 379.1 feet tall. Richard Preston

World Word Random Finished Tree Trees Wild Colleague Out Park Had Knocked Feet Named House Another Tall Tallest Came His Michael Just Turned Taylor Explorer Manuscript Sudden Found Chris Actually

Whatever happens to the great systems of nature will also be what happens to us. Richard Preston

Great Nature Will Whatever Systems Also Happens Us

I don't believe in a biological apocalypse, but I think there is stormy biological weather ahead as the human population continues to grow. Richard Preston

Weather Believe Think Human Stormy Apocalypse Human Population Grow Population Biological

I'm all in favor of looking deeply into as much as we possibly can. I'm not afraid of knowledge... With all new technology, weapons inevitably emerge... Evil comes out of the human heart. It doesn't come out of nature. Richard Preston

Global climate change has become entangled with the problem of invasive species. A warmer climate could allow some invaders to spread farther, while causing native organisms to go extinct in their traditional habitats and making room for invaders. Richard Preston

Change Problem Become Entangled Some Habitats Could Allow Global Making Climate Climate Change Spread Go Traditional Causing Native While Room Warmer Organisms Farther Species Extinct

The genome could be thought of as a kind of piano with twenty-five thousand keys. In some cases, a few keys may be out of tune, which can cause the music to sound wrong. In others, if one key goes dead the music turns into a cacophony, or the whole piano self-destructs. Richard Preston

Music Key Cause Thought Few Others Keys Out Kind Thousand Some Cases Could Piano Wrong Dead Genome Sound Goes May Tune Which Turns Whole Twenty-Five

When you get up into the crown of a redwood tree, you lose sight of the ground entirely. You also lose sight of the sky. And you're in a lost world. You're in an undiscovered, unexplored ecosystem, somewhere between Heaven and Earth, filled with forms of life, not all of which have been given names by scientists yet. Richard Preston

Life You World Sky Somewhere Lose Lost Tree Earth Sight Entirely Given Crown Between Names Ecosystem Also Redwood Scientists Been Undiscovered Up Get Unexplored Heaven Which Forms Ground Filled

Redwoods flourish in fog, but they don't like salt air. They tend to appear in valleys that are just out of sight of the sea. In their relationship with the sea, redwoods are like cats that long to be stroked but are shy to the touch. Richard Preston

Relationship Cats Fog Long Salt Air Valleys Sight Out Touch Tend Like Just Sea Appear Flourish Shy

When a parasite moves to a new habitat, it can find new hosts through a process called the trans-species jump. Often, the new host has no resistance; it and the parasite haven't had time to adjust to each other through natural selection (it is frequently not in the best interest of a parasite to kill its host quickly). Richard Preston

Time Best Natural Habitat Other Adjust Find Parasite Through Selection Host Had Hosts New Frequently Jump Quickly Often Moves Process Interest Natural Selection Each Resistance

Here's what's terrifying about Ebola. Ebola is invisible. It's a monster without a face. With the science that we have now, we can perceive Ebola as being not one thing but as a swarm, and the swarm is moving through the human population and expanding its numbers. It has the qualities of a monster. Richard Preston

Redwoods have an enormous surface area that extends upward into space because they have a propensity to do something called reiteration. A redwood is a fractal. And as they put out limbs, the limbs burst into small trees, copies of the redwood. Richard Preston

Space Enormous Trees Out Propensity Something Small Area Put Limbs Because Surface Redwood Upward Burst Copies

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