|
|
List Price: $25.95 Amazon.com's Price: $17.13 You Save: $8.82 (34%)Prices subject to change. Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
This item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping.
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:  - The Wonderful Earth and It's CreationCarl Zimmer explains with clarity what is E. coli and how we cannnot survicd without it, as it is one of the bases of all our genetic makeup: aniumcal or plant. Should be consider as required reading for all schools. Rating: - Read it even if you don't like little crittersCarl Zimmer is a terrific writer. I picked this book up because I enjoy his blog and online articles so much. Although I majored in Biology as an undergrad, I have to admit I was never terribly fired up about anything that was smaller than I could see with the naked eye. Too bad this book wasn't around back then, or I might have gone on to grad work in microbiology, genetics, or cell biology! Along with a most facinating study of E. coli, Zimmer takes us from the micro to the macro, ... Read More 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 |
