Relayed Without Comment

From the blog of Steven Johnson, author of The Ghost Map and Mind Wide Open

Go Buy Microcosm Right Now

Carl Zimmer may be my favorite science writer around today (others seem to agree), so I'm excited to report that his new book Microcosm: E. coli and the New Science of Life hit the shelves yesterday. I had the opportunity to read it in manuscript form, and it's really an exceptional book -- what Carl calls an "(un)natural history of E. coli" -- the world's most famous microbe. Having just published a book that partially starred a bacterium myself, I know how hard it is to make a book about microbial life engaging to human readers, but Carl pulls it off brilliantly here -- it's creepy, mind-twisting, and delightful all at the same time. It's the kind of book that literally expands your perspective on the world -- it helps you see how this alternative universe of tiny life forms is bound up crucially in our own day-to-day experience. So go check it out now....

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Microcosm: E. Coli and the New Science of Life by Carl Zimmer Pantheon: 2008, 256 pages. Buy now! (Amazon) I come face-to-face with Escherichia coli every day. In a sense, we all do--as billions of E. coli inhabit every individual's intestines. But for me, E. coli is a protein factory. I'm a…
tags: Microcosm, microbiology, bacteria, E coli, evolution, Carl Zimmer, book review I lived through Seattle's outbreak of the "killer E. coli strain O157:H7" that charged into the world's consciousness after it mercilessly destroyed the kidneys and other vital organs of hundreds of children and…
Escherichia coli is a superstar of the microbe world. Like Zelig, E. coli has been on the scene of some of the most important discoveries of biology. For example, Francois Jacob and Jacques Monod deciphered gene regulation using E. coli's Lac Operon. Roger Kornberg discovered DNA polymerase using E…
Look, folks. It's this simple. Carl Zimmer is one of our very best science writers. If not the absolute best bar none. So if you like reading about science, go buy his newest, Microcosm: E. Coli and the New Science of Life. And don't wait--the book is just out, and if you buy now you drive up the…

You and Steven Johnson are both authors whose books I have purchased in the past. I look forward to reading Microcosm.