October the 9th, 2020 - Esteemed Croatian scientist Igor Rudan is planning to release yet another book, Prvi val (The First wave), which will offer an expert's take on the unfolding of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic across the world.

When it comes to the topic of coronavirus, COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, more ''affectionately'' known as ''Rona'', there is a whirlwind of information that you can easily be bombarded with. In the day and age in which we live, there is no excuse not to be informed about, well, just about anything. It's all right there at the tips of our fingers in a way that was impossible to imagine not so long ago.

Everything, however, has a down side, and the negative side of having so much information freely and easily accessible is that human nature tends to cause some to only seek out information which benefits and confirms beliefs they already hold, rather than perhaps open their minds to something new and in some cases - more factual. This sort of dogma leads to an infodemia of sorts, which scientist Igor Rudan has already spoken about extensively in his many texts on the new virus and the pandemic caused by it.

Croatian scientist Igor Rudan is everything but a slacker. Having come to know each other since the outbreak of the ongoing pandemic, I have been consistently impressed at his ability to knuckle down. They say that if you do what you love, you never work a day in your life, and I'd dare to suggest this is the case for Rudan, who effortlessly pens texts explaining the ins and outs of not only this virus but of many others, with an enviable ease. These texts could be boring, full of scientific jargon that only a select few might understand, and as such lead more people to come to their own conclusions about the pandemic. Instead, he manages to convey it in a simplistic, interesting, and dare I say even entertaining way which grips the reader with, yet again, apparently very little effort.

One tends to think of scientists and immediately picture Albert Einstein locked away in an office struggling to understand the often superficial reality of the world around him. Quite on the contrary to that image, Croatian scientist Igor Rudan knows how to ''speak to the people'' as it were, very well indeed.

 His texts, which he wrote freely and with care and love, were crucial back when the virus penetrated Croatia's first line of defense and gradually began to spread among the population back in spring. His texts excellently calmed any anxieties, fears, and panic in an educated, easy to understand and compelling manner. Conspiracy theories will always be rife, as will perfectly reasonable people who have different views, but if you want to really understand this virus (in as much as anyone can at the moment), and the way pandemics happen, Rudan is the person to watch and read.

For Croatian speakers, watch Igor Rudan discuss coronavirus back in March this year:

If you're not confident in English and would prefer to read Igor's texts published by Vecernji list on the pandemic and other scientific matters, you can do so by clicking here.

We at TCN were instantly captivated by scientist Igor Rudan's texts when he first began publishing them, entirely at his own will, and I took to translating them, feeling that someone so educated who can still be so down to earth must be heard by the English speaking community who read our portal. You can read his incredible texts in English on his Medium profile here.

He's no stranger to writing books, having already published several. I'd highly recommend reading Zao zrak (Evil air), which is currently only available in Croatian, which discusses health and disease in the 21st century in a way that reaches people in a way that is quite remarkable. That brings me to the point (yes, finally). Of course, that point is English. Rudan, having the type of mind that he has, was quick to understand the need for his extensive and truly impressive works (both articles, longer texts and indeed books) to be available to the English speaking world during this utterly unprecedented time. It is, however, far from the first time that he has dipped his toes into that, having lived for a long time in Edinburgh and having made documentaries in English which excellently discuss survival against the odds. You can view this captivating YouTube series below, with the first video linked:

His next book, which will be translated into English and made widely available to all those for whom the name Igor Rudan is still new, is certain to impress all those who read it. The texts in it, many of which I have worked on, have garnered an enormous level of interest from our readers who were consistently asking when the next one was coming. They too were surprised at how interesting and in depth yet easy they were to follow and they did excellently each and every time a new one was published. Being an English language portal in Croatia, tourism is never far from the surface, and with the endless questions and indeed often confusing instructions issued to would-be travellers back when we knew much less about the virus than we do now, scientist Igor Rudan's texts acted as a calmant of sorts for those wishing to better understand the situation in Croatia, and indeed the world.

If you'd like to learn more about Rudan, click here. You can follow scientist Igor Rudan on his English platforms, you can follow his Twitter, his Medium (linked above), and his English language Facebook page. Keep your eyes peeled for the release of his next book, we'll be certain to provide the update as soon as it can be found on the shelves and online.