Barry describes fear taking over so many cities during the pandemic and implies that such fear might have been avoided through better leadership and less censorship. Is there any way to truly prevent people from feeling terrified and hopeless in a pandemic? If so, how? If not, why not?

Much of the book is devoted to identifying the traits that make a good scientist. What are those traits, and which do you think are most important?

This edition of the book was published before the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020. What advice from Barry’s Afterword has been ignored by leaders in 2020? Do you think that has contributed to the response to the virus internationally?