Apollo's Arrow

The Profound and Enduring Impact of Coronavirus on the Way We Live

By: Nicholas A. Christakis MD PhD

Narrated by: Nicholas A. Christakis MD PhD

A piercing and scientifically grounded look at the emergence of the coronavirus pandemic and how it will change the way we live - "excellent and timely." (The New Yorker)

Apollo's Arrow offers a riveting account of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic as it swept through American society in 2020, and of how the recovery will unfold in the coming years. Drawing on momentous (yet dimly remembered) historical epidemics, contemporary analyses, and cutting-edge research from a range of scientific disciplines, best-selling author, physician, sociologist, and public health expert Nicholas A. Christakis explores what it means to live in a time of plague - an experience that is paradoxically uncommon to the vast majority of humans who are alive, yet deeply fundamental to our species.

Unleashing new divisions in our society as well as opportunities for cooperation, this 21st-century pandemic has upended our lives in ways that will test, but not vanquish, our already frayed collective culture. Featuring new, provocative arguments and vivid examples ranging across medicine, history, sociology, epidemiology, data science, and genetics, Apollo's Arrow envisions what happens when the great force of a deadly germ meets the enduring reality of our evolved social nature.

©2020 Nicholas A. Christakis, MD, PhD (P)2020 Little, Brown & Company

Critic reviews

"Apollo’s Arrow shoots straight and true to explain the scientific and social aspects of the coronavirus pandemic. Christakis’s background in biology, medicine, epidemiology, and sociology is a powerful formula for understanding this complex subject. I’m tempted to say that the gods created Christakis to write this book at this time. It is wise, vivid, and engaging." —William D. Nordhaus, author of The Climate Casino and 2018 Nobel Laureate in Economics

“Seldom have we been gifted with a study of pandemic disease marked by such scope, wit, and erudition. Still rarer is one that appears while the rest of us scramble to make sense of a rapidly evolving crisis, one shaped by the very social forces that Nicholas Christakis has studied for decades. Apollo’s Arrow is more than history’s first draft. It will live on as a journal of the plague years, certainly, and it inspires as it instructs. Definitive, engaging, and astonishing. A tour-de-force.” —Paul Farmer, professor, Harvard Medical School, founder, Partners in Health

“The world is ravenous for deep and accurate information about the most important event in the 21st century. No one is deeper than Nicholas Christakis, who ticks every box of expertise: medical, epidemiological, social, psychological, economic, historical. This is the place to go to understand the phenomenon that has turned the world, and our lives, upside down. Apollo’s Arrow is gripping, enlightening, and vitally important.” —Steven Pinker, author of Enlightenment Now

The most comprehensive description so far...

Worth several listens. There is a tremendous amount of information and keep perspective on the topic

Excellent but US focused

Fabulous mix of history, philosophy and science to put the coronavirus into perspective and point us to lessons for the future. But data and anecdotes are very US focused and lacks the power of how this is (was) unfolding around the world.

Great COVID book

great teachings on COVID that helped me understand the medical and social aspects of the virus.

It's Already a Bit Dated

The good doctor does an excellent job in explaining the array of problems that accompany situations where masses of people are affected by a disease. These issues could have been addressed even before the pandemic began, as they are well known from previous epidemics.

The difficulty comes when he analyzes some of the issues specific to the Covid 19 pandemic in this 2020 book: vaccines changed everything. So, for example, he observes that people adapted to Covid by not handshaking, which he describes as a regrettable behavior. What we have seen in 2021--as soon as vaccination made people feel protected--handshaking returned. For the same reason, mask-wearing has become much less prevalent, even in the face of the more communicable Omicron variant.

I think that this excellent book needs a realistic update in light of the difference that vaccination has made in behavior. In fact, this is still a developing story, and the aftermath of the pandemic will see even more changes in our lives. A look backward in a couple of years will probably become a popular literary theme.

Excellent book to better understand the pandemic of 2020 and other ones

Great narrator, very well described topics in a complex subject, great accompanying pdf as well.

Everyone should read this book

While it was a difficult topic to listen to while still in the throes of this pandemic, this was a truly fascinating read. This is required reading for anyone interested in what is (still) happening with Covid-19 and pandemics through history.

A great book, very informative.

While this book contains many scientific details in terms, it is well explained in a way that someone that listened in high school biology could understand. I would highly recommend it. the book discusses the evidence for and the uncertainties associated with what we know about this virus and the vaccines. it also goes into the importance of various approaches and their effectiveness. turns out social distancing and washing your hands work. more importantly, he goes into more details as to why then you generally hear.

This book seems to be told from the centrist point of view. It does contain some criticisms of elected officials who reacted poorly and against the advice of scientists early on in the pandemic. This includes criticisms of both left-leaning and right-leaning political figures. if that will be extremely upsetting to you, I would still read the book. The information is just so doggone great you can undergo a little discomfort to get it.

Know your enemy

The author presents an excellent survey of the science and history of pandemic disease. He did not get bogged down in jargon or science beyond my grasp. The last chapters on sociology and how COVID will end were of particular interest. Narrated clearly by the author who has a nice voice for this task.

Apollo's Arrow

This is a great book! A concise and compelling history that lends to the understanding of our current COVID pandemic. Though. maybe not in our lifetime, it gives me hope that evolutionarily we will survive.

Excellent. Scholarly, Insightful, & Comprehensive

I enjoyed learning as I listened to Dr. CHRISTAKIS explain in simple language about pandemics past & presents. I specifically appreciate the he explained the social impact, the way he documented key events related to #Covid_19 chronologically, and his insight of how the #SARS_COV_2 virus may evolve into an endemic & less harmful similar to how the OC43 virus likely evolved.
I am going to buy the hard copy as a reference once the 2nd ed is out because I think an update is necessary in a couple of years.