Invisible Allies
Microbes That Shape Our Lives
Farrell, Jeanette
Hardcover
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BOOK SUMMARY
Mmm-mmm, microbes!
Although we are accustomed to equating the presence of microbes with disease, in fact most microbes play a vital "friendly" role in shaping our lives. It is not just that one hundred million microbes can populate a thimbleful of fertil
BOOK SYNOPSIS
Mmm-mmm, microbes!
Although we are accustomed to equating the presence of
microbes with disease, in fact most microbes play a vital
"friendly" role in shaping our lives. It is not just that one
hundred million microbes can populate a thimbleful of fertile
soil, or that many millions live happily in as much of our saliva.
Microbes are everywhere, and we could not survive without
them. To emphasize their amazing ubiquity, Jeanette Farrell
considers the invisible bugs essential to an everyday event: the
eating of a light lunch consisting of a cheese sandwich and a
chocolate bar. Microbes create such a lunch, digest it, and,
through the alchemy of decomposition, transform it so that the
cycle can start all over again. In the course of her eye-opening
narrative, Dr. Farrell relates the historical significance of using
microbes to preserve foods, our long-standing ambivalence
about the microbes that live on and in us, and our growing
understanding of their importance.
Interspersed with fascinating anecdotes and illustrations,
Invisible Allies will transform the reader's perception of the
microcosmic world - around and inside us.
BOOK EXCERPTS
Black-and-white illustrations; Glossary, notes, bibliography, index
BOOK REVIEWS
"Farrell brings an engaged and thoughtful approach to her subject. There's enough sheer fascination in Farrell's account of the teeming microscopic world to attract general-interest gawkers, who may find more interest in science than they had expected."
-- Starred, Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books"Intriguing." -- Starred, The Horn Book
"A broad ranging and imminently readable book. Never talking down to her audience or hyping the grosser aspects of the subject, she presents what is known about beneficial microbes and acknowledges the ongoing scientific study of these amazing life forms." -- Starred, Booklist "This page-turner will persuade young readers, if not to love the microbes in which we are all more or less immersed, at least to appreciate them." -- Kirkus Reviews "Lively and engaging. A fascinating read." -- Booklist "This book is science for youth at its best and a must-have. One might hope there are more books to come from this author." -- VOYA
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MORE BOOK INFO
ISBN: 0374336083
ISBN(13-digit): 9780374336080
Dewey Decimal: 579
Library of Congress: 2004053750
Book Publisher: Farrar Straus & Giroux
Language: ENG
No. of Pages: 165
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