Microbes and Evolution: The World That Darwin Never Saw

Explore the fundamental role of microbes in the natural history of our planet...

Inspired by a 2009 colloquium on microbial evolution convened at the Galapagos Islands, Microbes and Evolution continues to celebrate Charles Darwin and his landmark book On the Origin of Species.

Features 40 first-person essays written by microbiologists with a passion for evolutionary biology, whose thinking and career paths in science were influenced by Darwin s seminal work.

Includes personal viewpoints on the importance of evolutionary principles in the study of a variety of aspects of life science, from taxonomy, speciation, adaptation, social structure, and symbiosis to antibiotic resistance, genetics, and genomics.

"A breathtaking range of topics are woven together under a common theme that takes the reader from the origin of microbial life to its diversity, from mutualism and competition to efforts to recapitulate evolution, from the diversity of bacterial viruses to “the smallest and most abundant microorganism in the ocean.” – Richard Losick, Maria Moors Cabot Professor, Harvard University