Quantitative Viral Ecology (Winner, Graduate Textbook Prize)
Joshua S Weitz
Princeton University Press, £51.95
In the preface, the author declares that the "study of the viruses of microbes is in its infancy" and that "this book is an opening salvo". As openings go, Quantitative Viral Ecology is an outstanding one, representing an impressive scholarly endeavour and overview of the field. The book has three principal sections: an overview of virology (from an ecological perspective); population and evolutionary dynamics of viruses and their microbial hosts; and viral ecology in the oceans.
Despite its complex subject matter, the book is pleasingly readable and its content fully digestible by a non-expert. Quantitative Viral Ecology is supported by a robust technical appendix explaining a range of models and systems associated with the book's main content.
Dr Ian Turner MRSB
