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Binding: HardcoverDewey Decimal Number: 579.342 EAN: 9780375424304 Edition: 1 ISBN: 037542430X Label: Pantheon Manufacturer: Pantheon Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 256 Publication Date: May 06, 2008 Publisher: Pantheon Release Date: May 06, 2008 Studio: Pantheon Editorial Review: Product Description: •Within days of being born, we are infected with billions of E. coli. They will inhabit each and every one of us until we die. E. coli is notorious for making people gravely ill, but engineered strains of the bacteria save millions of lives each year. •Despite its microscopic size, E.coli contains more than four thousand genes that operate a staggeringly sophisticated network of millions of molecules. •Scientists are rebuilding E. coli from the ground up, redefining our understanding of life on Earth. In the tradition of classics like Lewis Thomas's Lives of a Cell, Carl Zimmer has written a fascinating and utterly accessible investigation of what it means to be alive. Zimmer traces E. coli's remarkable history, showing how scientists used it to discover how genes work and then to launch the entire biotechnology industry. While some strains of E. coli grab headlines by causing deadly diseases, scientists are retooling the bacteria to produce everything from human insulin to jet fuel. Microcosm is the story of the one species on Earth that science knows best of all. It's also a story of life itself--of its rules, its mysteries, and its future. Average Rating:
 Rating:  - A Tale of E.coliIn Microcosm, Zimmer has eloquently condensed a century of scientific study surrounding Eschericia coli into an accurate and flowing story readable by anyone with even just a modest understanding of biology. As Zimmer points out, E.coli has held a central role in microbiology since its first description by German pediatrician Theodor Escherich in the 19th century. This simple bacterium and its various strains have always been there since we first started looking for the microbes involved ... Read More Rating:  - MicrocosmsFirst, Carl Zimmer is an excellent writer. He seems to have done his homework thoroughly. The book is rich and rewarding, and much appreciated. I will make two suggestions. One, a glossary would be very helpful. The lay reader (his intended audience) is not very familiar with the arcane biological types that are continuously bantered about. A glossary would not be difficult to produce, or too lengthy to add. I'm really curious as to why a glossary was not added because it seems such an obvious ... Read More Rating: - Biology as Seen from E. coli, a mere Bacterium, Courtesy of Carl ZimmerWith the trained eyes of a scientist and the soul of poet, eminent science writer Carl Zimmer takes us on an all too brief, yet fascinating, trek into contemporary biology, as seen from the perspective of the bacterium Escherichia coli, in his latest book, "Microcosm: E. coli and the New Science of Life". More than a mere recounting of decades of elegant scientific research from the likes of Joshua Lederberg and Salvador Luria, among others, "Microcosm" is truly a book about contemporary biology itself, tying ... Read More Rating: - A Surprisingly Universal MicrobiologyInside your gut are maybe a hundred trillion cells. The number is an interesting one, because these cells sitting in your digestive tract outnumber the neurons, muscle cells, and other cells that make "you" by ten to one. In other words, by the numbers, your own cells are a machine that exists to keep a huger number of cells alive in your intestines. Among those trillions of cells is a small population of _Escherichia coli_, one of the world's most important and most studied bacteria. They may be tiny, but ... Read More Rating: - Good balance of science and storyIt would have been easy to make this book very dry, and the author did an excellent job of balancing scientific detail with a good narrative. It includes just enough components of history and science to be complete without over-doing either area. The author takes us from the isolation of E. coli in 1885 to, for example, current debates over how some mutations help bacteria survive environmental stress. Between these two benchmarks the author weaves a well-written story that covers what is known about ... Read More |
