The Great Influenza by John M. Barry Book Review

John M. Barry is an American author and historian who has written books focusing on the ideas of the modern world. He wrote the book, describing the 1918 Spanish Flu, The Great Influenza. During 2004, when the book was written, the book appealed to those who were worried about current epidemics, SARS and H5N1. SARS, also known as severe acute respiration, had an outbreak in early 2003 with bats starting as the main carrier to  “respiratory droplets (droplet spread) produced [by] an infected person” (CDC). The purpose of the excerpt is to express the pathways scientists take to make a true discovery and to show recognition and gratitude for those under this career. In his sophisticated and compassionate novel written about the 1918 flu epidemic, in 2004, John M. Barry clearly demonstrates the foundation, risk, and pathways of science through philosophical elements, emotional appeals, and perspectives of a scientist. 

Barry efficiently provides a sense of passion through philosophical elements within the article. Barry creates a sense of empathy in order to lure readers into the persuasion of thinking differently about scientists. He uses an allusion to convey the mysteries of science, referring to Claude Bernard. Similar to Barry’s ideas, Claude Bernard, the great French psychologist, believed that “science teaches us to doubt” (Bernard). Claude’s renown background provides an extensive amount of credibility towards Barry's argument. Barry signifies Claude’s great doubt towards science through the use of a metaphor. Barry compares the careers of science to “mov[ing] deep into a wilderness” exemplifying the unknown of science (Barry). This creates a sense of appreciation for the reader and a greater understanding of how much liability there is in science. Through this concept of moving further into wilderness it creates imagery for the reader. The reader feels the science steps are a journey like a hero would take. 

Through Barry’s compassion, he also lures the reader into his argument through emotional appeals. The main senses of emotion Barry focuses on are fear and risk. Barry has an example of personification to signify the risk of science. Like humans, he portrays science as a finding that could “break apart upon the sharp edge of a single laboratory finding” (Barry). This dramatizes the true feelings of science. When the reader stumbles upon this, it makes them think of past experiences that have made them feel on the edge. A personal connection is established between the reader and the author which increases his reliability. Also alluding to the risk of science, Barry uses another metaphor to compare making one mistake in science, such as a wrongful piece of evidence, to, “a single step can also take one off a cliff” (Barry). The audience begins to imagine the horrifying fears that are associated with being on the edge of a cliff looking down into the canyon, to the everyday life of a scientist undergoing research. Through these two major statements made by Barry, it overall creates empathy for the reader about the risks that scientists take. He tries to exemplify that being a scientist requires a heavy toll in mental health and they should be more acknowledged for this sacrifice.

Barry finally lures in the audience through the pathway of a scientist. During his final words of the excerpt he specifically tries to create a sense of empathy for scientists. Barry introduces the pathway through a metaphor that leads to questioning. The first step of a scientific discovery is where the scientist does a variety of “grunt work [and] tedious work that [leads to] figuring out what tools one needs”(Barry). After they figure the tools they must find the solutions which take a great amount of time. This provides a realization for the audience on how sophisticated and thorough the work that scientists do. Through this realization, it provides recognition and gratitude ideas in the reader. These positive feelings lead to the reader feeling that Barry is for the best interest. Barry claims that finding the solution is not the most difficult aspect of the research which makes the audience have a great amount of confusion. He uses a metaphor to demonstrate that once a discovery has been released to science, “a flood of colleagues will pave roads over the path laid” (Barry). This confusion and statement causes the reader to ponder about their prior experiences. Specifically in the current day, the readers may think about the initial release of COVID-19 or SARS. Once the discovery was made, chaos was the major background. The exigence of the story helps convey why the scientist pathway is another reason to acknowledge scientists for the hardship they perceive. 

Throughout history, scientists have been known as the most intelligent and wise people in the world. On March 12 of 2003, within 3 months of the discovery of SARS, the CDC declared a “global alert for a severe form of pneumonia of unknown origin in persons from China, Vietnam, and Hong Kong” (CDC). Through this panic and the stereotype Barry provides a persuasive argument to convey gratitude to scientists. He goes into depth about the many ways scientists deserve gratitude through many rhetorical devices. All flow into three major topics, philosophical elements, emotional appeals, and perspectives of scientists.