I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life - Softcover

Yong, Ed

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0062368605 ISBN 13: 9780062368607

Publisher: Ecco, 2018

Synopsis

The New York Times Bestseller

From Pulitzer Prize winner Ed Yong, a groundbreaking, wondrously informative, and vastly entertaining examination of the most significant revolution in biology since Darwin—a “microbe’s-eye view” of the world that reveals a marvelous, radically reconceived picture of life on earth.

Every animal, whether human, squid, or wasp, is home to millions of bacteria and other microbes. Pulitzer Prize-winning author Ed Yong, whose humor is as evident as his erudition, prompts us to look at ourselves and our animal companions in a new light—less as individuals and more as the interconnected, interdependent multitudes we assuredly are.

The microbes in our bodies are part of our immune systems and protect us from disease. In the deep oceans, mysterious creatures without mouths or guts depend on microbes for all their energy. Bacteria provide squid with invisibility cloaks, help beetles to bring down forests, and allow worms to cause diseases that afflict millions of people.

Many people think of microbes as germs to be eradicated, but those that live with us—the microbiome—build our bodies, protect our health, shape our identities, and grant us incredible abilities. In this astonishing book, Ed Yong takes us on a grand tour through our microbial partners, and introduces us to the scientists on the front lines of discovery. It will change both our view of nature and our sense of where we belong in it.

About this title

About the Author

Ed Yong is a science writer who reports for The Atlantic. For his coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic, he won the Pulitzer Prize in explanatory reporting, the George Polk Award for science reporting, and other honors. His first book, I Contain Multitudes, was a New York Times bestseller. He is based in Washington, DC.

From the Back Cover

“Beautiful, smart, and sometimes shocking” (Wired), I Contain Multitudes lets us peer into the vast world of the microbiome for the first time, allowing us to see how ubiquitous, complex, and vital microbes really are: they sculpt our organs, defend us from disease, break down our food, bombard our genomes with their genes, and grant us incredible abilities. This book will change both our view of nature, and our sense of where we belong in it.

Edition details

• Publisher: Ecco
• Publication date: 2018
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0062368605
• ISBN 13: 9780062368607
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 368