Few living things strike as much fear or disgust in us as a parasite. But in his upcoming book, Hidden Creatures: Luscious Leeches, Bashful Botflies, and the Wondrous, History-Shaping World of Parasites, entomologist Dino Martins is hoping to stir up a different feeling in people toward these free-riders: admiration. Martins takes readers on a tour covering many of the parasites that have plagued humanity for millennia, from tapeworms that sap our vitality from inside the gut to bed bugs that feast off our blood during our most vulnerable hours spent sleeping. Nestled within tidbits on the biology of these parasites and the scientists who helped us better understand them, he also weaves in beautifully written passages detailing his upbringing in Africa and the years he’s spent studying nature up close. I reached out to Martins to talk about why he chose to delve deep into parasites, his own personal least favorite encounter with one, and the larger lessons these real-life vampires can teach us about the world and our place in it. The following conservation has been lightly edited for grammar and clarity.
Ed Cara, Gizmodo: Can you tell us a little bit about the origin of this book? Dino Martins: Well, several things happened. I was in the process of finishing up 10 years of being in a leadership position at various institutions, first the Mpala Research Center, then the Turkana Basin Institute. And there was this moment where I just realized that so much was changing in the world, and people just really needed to understand it at this deeper level. Things like the shifts in science funding, which I was personally affected by—we actually had a big grant working on ticks and mosquitoes and that was pulled away.
