For a long time, the popular view has been to see microbes as killers – germs and pathogens, threatening our health. The plethora of kitchen products that promise to kill 99% of all known germs is a testament to the fear factor they produce.
But as Ed Yong points out, if you removed just the human cells from a human’s body, you would be left with a human-like shape because of the microbes we co-exist with, on our skin, in our guts, spread through our tissue – we can’t live without them.
Science writer Yong gives a state-of-the art look at what we know about microbes and what is still left to discover. He considers the importance of these tiny organisms to the overall balance and harmony of both the survival of an individual creature and to whole eco-systems.
Microbes can be both helpful and destructive to the heath of the body they inhabit, and some species can’t properly develop without the help of their microbes switching on protective mechanisms.
From breastfeeding to coral reefs, the complex relationships between microbes and their environments are explored with rigour and humour.
Yong makes difficult concepts and scientific terms easy to understand – and his excitement at the variety and astonishing wonder of nature makes him an enthusiastic and engaging writer.
Published by The Bodley Head
