The Hidden Half of Nature: The Microbial Roots of Life and Health - Softcover

Montgomery, David R.; Biklé, Anne

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0393353370 ISBN 13: 9780393353372

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company, 2016

Synopsis

"Sure to become a game-changing guide to the future of good food and healthy landscapes." ―Dan Barber, chef and author of The Third Plate

Prepare to set aside what you think you know about yourself and microbes. The Hidden Half of Nature reveals why good health―for people and for plants―depends on Earth’s smallest creatures. Restoring life to their barren yard and recovering from a health crisis, David R. Montgomery and Anne Biklé discover astounding parallels between the botanical world and our own bodies. From garden to gut, they show why cultivating beneficial microbiomes holds the key to transforming agriculture and medicine.

20 illustrations

About this title

About the Authors

David R. Montgomery is a professor of Earth and space sciences at the University of Washington. He studies the evolution of topography and the influence of geomorphological processes on ecological systems and human societies. He received a BS from Stanford University (1984, geology) and a PhD from UC Berkeley (1991, geomorphology). His field studies have included projects in the Philippines, eastern Tibet, South America, California, and the Pacific Northwest of North America. He is an elected Fellow of the American Geophysical Union and has received many awards throughout his career, including a MacArthur Fellowship and the Vega Medal. His books Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations, King of Fish: The Thousand-Year Run of Salmon, and The Rocks Don’t Lie: A Geologist Investigates Noah’s Flood have all won the Washington State Book Award in General Nonfiction. Montgomery’s Growing a Revolution: Bringing Our Soil Back to Life was a finalist for the PEN/E. O. Wilson Award for Literary Science Writing. He also coauthored with Anne Biklé The Hidden Half of Nature and, most recently, What Your Food Ate: How to Heal Our Land and Reclaim Our Health. His books have been translated into ten languages. He is also a coauthor of the new textbook Essentials of Physical Geography with W. W. Norton.

Anne Biklé is a biologist and environmental planner. Her career spans the fields of environmental stewardship, habitat restoration, and public health. The Hidden Half of Nature is her first book.

Edition details

• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Publication date: 2016
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0393353370
• ISBN 13: 9780393353372
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 320