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Stefan Helmreich is Elting E. Morison Professor of Anthropology at MIT. He is author of Alien Ocean: Anthropological Voyages in Microbial Seas (California, 2009) and Sounding the Limits of Life: Essays in the Anthropology of Biology and Beyond (Princeton, 2016). His essays have appeared in Critical Inquiry, Representations, American Anthropologist, The Wire, Cabinet, Public Culture, and BOMB.
Epidemic waves serve not just to predict but also to persuade. Their special blend of mathematical and moral messaging will shape the future of the pandemic.
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