Scientists call this the Golden Age of the Common Cold because Americans suffer up to a billion colds each year, resulting in 40 million days of missed work and school and 100 million doctor visits. They've also learned over the past decade much more about what cold viruses are, what they do to the human body, and how symptoms can be addressed. In this ode to the odious cold, Jennifer Ackerman sifts through the chatter about treatments-what works, what doesn't, and what can't hurt. She dispels myths, such as susceptibility to colds reflects a weakened immune system. And she tracks current research, including work at the University of Virginia at Charlottesville, a world-renowned center of cold research studies, where the search for a cure continues.

Jennifer Ackerman is the author of the forthcoming book, Ah-Choo! The Uncommon Life of Your Common Cold (Twelve, 2011). She is currently writing the scripts for a natural history film series for the National Geographic channel. Her previous books include Sex Sleep Eat Drink Dream: A Day in the Life of Your Body, Chance in the House of Fate: A Natural History of Heredity, and Notes from the Shore.

She is also the co-author with Miriam Nelson of a forthcoming book on women's health, Strong Women's Guide to Total Health (Rodale, 2010). A contributor to National Geographic Magazine, The New York Times, and many other publications, she is the recipient of numerous awards and fellowships, including a 2004 NEA Literature Fellowship in Nonfiction and a grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Her articles and essays have been included in several anthologies, among them Best American Science Writing (2005), The Nature Reader (1996) and Best Nature Writing (1996). Ackerman’s work aims to explain and interpret science for a lay audience and to explore the riddle of humanity's place in the natural world, blending scientific knowledge with imaginative vision.