For most of human existence, microbes were
hidden, visible only through the illnesses they caused. When they finally
surfaced in biological studies, they were cast as rogues. Only recently have
they immigrated from the neglected fringes of biology to its centre. Even
today, many people think of microbes as germs to be eradicated, but those that
live with us — the microbiome — are invaluable parts of our lives.
اضافة اعلان
I Contain Multitudes lets us peer into that
world for the first time, allowing us to see how ubiquitous and vital microbes
are: they sculpt our organs, defend us from disease, break down our food,
educate our immune systems, guide our behaviour, bombard our genomes with their
genes, and grant us incredible abilities.
We learn the secret, invisible, and
wondrous biology behind the corals that construct mighty reefs, the glowing
squid that can help us understand the bacteria in our own guts, the beetles
that bring down forests, the disease-fighting mosquitoes engineered in
Australia, and the ingredients in breast milk that evolved to nourish a baby’s
first microbes.
We see how humans are disrupting these
partnerships and how scientists are now manipulating them to our advantage. We
see, as
William Blake wrote, the world in a grain of sand.
I Contain Multitudes is the story of these
extraordinary partnerships, between the familiar creatures of our world and
those we never knew existed. It will change both our view of nature and our
sense of where we belong in it.
Ed Yong is an award-winning science writer
who reports for The Atlantic. His blog, Not Exactly Rocket Science, is hosted
by National Geographic, and his work has also appeared in Wired, the New York
Times, Nature, the BBC, New Scientist, Scientific American, the Guardian, The
Times and more. He lives in London.
“Super-interesting... He just keeps
imparting one surprising, fascinating insight after the next. I Contain
Multitudes is science journalism at its best,” Bill Gates said of Ed Young’s “I
Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life.”
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