I have a copy that is so old the pages have all separated from the binding.

I always felt this book was really more about the isolation of an individual who is (so far as he knows) the only of his kind left, having to deal with a world that is completely changed and the crushing sadness of having lost his family. Can you imagine anything worse than having to take your dead loved one to a huge firepit and she gets thrown in with all the other plague victims? *shudder* There is also the added emotional shock at the end of the book, when Neville realizes that HE is now the enemy and the scourge to the budding society that is being rebuilt by the survivors. HE is legend.

The scientific aspects always seemed to me to play more of a supporting role, giving Neville a sense of purpose at a time when he needed it most. I always thought that his immunity as the result of a vampire bat bite was super flimsy as an explanation, and the idea of his research felt more like a vehicle Matheson used to get Neville off his duff and doing something constructive. It forced him out of his safe-haven and basically delivered him into the clutches of the vampires. Of course, we all know this isn't a good idea. World taken over by vamps, you're the only person left, STAY IN YOUR REINFORCED HOUSE, MAN! But of course, his interaction with Ruth makes that impossible, and he is forced to realize that his fate has been sealed much longer than he thought.

So, really, I guess I agree that the microscope and all the other things he does to figure out his enemy aren't necessarily accurate as far as actual applied science goes, but sometimes you just have to suspend all that in favor of a good adventure. Yeah?