Planet of Microbes: The Perils and Potential of Earth's Essential Life Forms

Ted Anton

ISBN 10: 022635394X / ISBN 13: 9780226353944

Published by University Of Chicago Press, 2017

About this Item

2017. 1st Edition. Hardcover. . . . . . Books ship from the US and Ireland.

Seller Inventory # V9780226353944

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Planet of Microbes: The Perils and Potential of Earth's Essential Life Forms
• Publisher: University Of Chicago Press
• Publication Date: 2017
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 022635394X
• ISBN 13: 9780226353944
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

We live in a time of unprecedented scientific knowledge about the origins of life on Earth. But if we want to grasp the big picture, we have to start small—very small. That’s because the real heroes of the story of life on Earth are microbes, the tiny living organisms we cannot see with the naked eye. Microbes were Earth’s first lifeforms, early anaerobic inhabitants that created the air we breathe. Today they live, invisible and seemingly invincible, in every corner of the planet, from Yellowstone’s scalding hot springs to Antarctic mountaintops to inside our very bodies—more than a hundred trillion of them. Don’t be alarmed though: many microbes are allies in achieving our—to say nothing of our planet’s—health.
           
In Planet of Microbes, Ted Anton takes readers through the most recent discoveries about microbes, revealing their unexpected potential to reshape the future of the planet. For years, we knew little about these invisible invaders, considering them as little more than our enemies in our fight against infectious disease. But the more we learn about microbes, the more it’s become clear that our very lives depend on them. They may also hold the answers to some of science’s most pressing problems, including how to combat a warming planet, clean up the environment, and help the body fight off a wide variety of diseases. Anton has spent years interviewing and working with the determined scientists who hope to harness the work of microbes, and he breaks down the science while also sharing incredible behind-the-scenes stories of the research taking place everywhere from microbreweries to Mars.
           
The world’s tiniest organisms were here more than three billion years before us. We live in their world, and Planet of Microbes at last gives these unsung heroes the recognition they deserve.
 

About the Author

Ted Anton is professor of English at DePaul University. He is the author, most recently, of The Longevity Seekers and has written for Chicago magazine, the Chicago Tribune, and Publishers Weekly.