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jasonfurman's review against another edition
5.0
An outstanding book, highly recommended. I loved his Parasite Rex years ago and this is much better than that book -- or at least than my memory of that book. It is an intensive look at E. coli, everything from the details of how we have learned about it, how it functions, how it has evolved, what we understand about it genetics, the role it plays in normal human functioning and human disease, how it is being used to produce new proteins and provide the basis for synthetic life.
All along the way you get to feel like you know E. coli (albeit with a bit too much anthropomorphizing at times) and are getting an illuminating window into a number of subjects, some familiar and some unfamiliar. Much more successful than many "how the tricycle changed the world" types of books.
All along the way you get to feel like you know E. coli (albeit with a bit too much anthropomorphizing at times) and are getting an illuminating window into a number of subjects, some familiar and some unfamiliar. Much more successful than many "how the tricycle changed the world" types of books.
cspats's review against another edition
5.0
Just simply awesome. Zimmer scores again with his in depth biography of e-coli. A highly entertaining and enjoyable read. In fact, I think this might be the best science book I've read in a few years.
kellyelizabeth27's review against another edition
4.0
Carl Zimmer uses E. coli as a lens for understanding microbiology. It's a fascinating, diverse little organism. Great stuff about how they move around.
msgtdameron's review against another edition
4.0
Areal good short read of how E.Coli has helped science, specifically Biology, find many of the keys to how our bodies work. Cells use DNA to build proteins and proteins build our bodies. But the same process that makes our heart or rib cage also are going on in the E. coli. (Yes, I know these should be in italics, but my computer savvy now days is getting more and more limited.). Science has used E. coli to find diesel cures, fight cancer, repair other DNA strands, figure out how DNA works, and the list goes on. As Zimmer quotes, "E.Coli and and Elephant are closer than you may think. And this work shows how close not only the Elephant but US are.
lauramariani's review against another edition
4.0
I'm a big fan of Carl Zimmer. His blog, The Loom ( http://www.scienceblogs.com/loom ) is always great for keeping up with scientific developments in words that a layperson can understand, and his other books (I've read Parasite Rex, [b:At the Water's Edge|163529|At the Water's Edge Fish with Fingers, Whales with Legs, and How Life Came Ashore but Then Went Back to Sea|Carl Zimmer|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1223643282s/163529.jpg|1233], and [b:Soul Made Flesh|213113|Soul Made Flesh The Discovery of the Brain--and How it Changed the World|Carl Zimmer|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172756607s/213113.jpg|1231]) have been quite good. His newest book, on the bacterium E. coli, was also an enjoyable and educational read.
I find I get the most out of science writing when it's on a subject outside my expertise. I loved Parasite Rex for this reason, since parasitology is often overlooked in biology classes, despite being completely fascinating. I'm in the middle of training to be a neuroscientist, so as you might imagine, I don't study many bacteria (they have no nervous system). I was fascinated to learn about the complicated genetic circuits that exist in such a simple organism. I knew some basic facts about E. coli from my genetics classes (operons, phages, plasmids, bacterial sex...), but I had never studied the mechanisms by which the germ senses chemicals in its environment and chooses its method of locomotion accordingly. These little bacteria, with only the most rudimentary of sensory organs, manage to locate food sources and move toward them, which is pretty amazing. They also form complicated bacterial "cities," called biofilms, in which they seem capable of cooperation and altruism. All this, without so much as a nucleus! Some pretty impressive little cells.
I also loved some of the personal details about scientists that get thrown into the story. People writing "Hooray!" in their notebooks when an experiment works, husband-and-wife teams cracking the genetic code of bacteria, experiments in seeing just how long an E. coli colony can live that span multiple generations of researchers. These little touches really make the book seem more real to me, as a scientist. I can almost smell the Luria broth.
Some of the later chapters of the book tackle genetic engineering and synthetic biology, controversial scientific issues with E. coli at the heart of their biggest discoveries. While Zimmer covers some of the controversy, I would have enjoyed more discussion on this, and perhaps a little less of the basic genetics that I already knew. I'm a pretty specialized reader, though, and can appreciate how important that background knowledge is if one isn't already a biologist.
Overall, I'd say this book makes for enlightening reading for anyone who's already a biology enthusiast, but perhaps might be a hard sell for non-bacteria fans. I still think Parasite Rex is Zimmer's most jaw-droppingly fascinating book, but I'd probably rate this one as his second best. Give it a read, why don't you?
I find I get the most out of science writing when it's on a subject outside my expertise. I loved Parasite Rex for this reason, since parasitology is often overlooked in biology classes, despite being completely fascinating. I'm in the middle of training to be a neuroscientist, so as you might imagine, I don't study many bacteria (they have no nervous system). I was fascinated to learn about the complicated genetic circuits that exist in such a simple organism. I knew some basic facts about E. coli from my genetics classes (operons, phages, plasmids, bacterial sex...), but I had never studied the mechanisms by which the germ senses chemicals in its environment and chooses its method of locomotion accordingly. These little bacteria, with only the most rudimentary of sensory organs, manage to locate food sources and move toward them, which is pretty amazing. They also form complicated bacterial "cities," called biofilms, in which they seem capable of cooperation and altruism. All this, without so much as a nucleus! Some pretty impressive little cells.
I also loved some of the personal details about scientists that get thrown into the story. People writing "Hooray!" in their notebooks when an experiment works, husband-and-wife teams cracking the genetic code of bacteria, experiments in seeing just how long an E. coli colony can live that span multiple generations of researchers. These little touches really make the book seem more real to me, as a scientist. I can almost smell the Luria broth.
Some of the later chapters of the book tackle genetic engineering and synthetic biology, controversial scientific issues with E. coli at the heart of their biggest discoveries. While Zimmer covers some of the controversy, I would have enjoyed more discussion on this, and perhaps a little less of the basic genetics that I already knew. I'm a pretty specialized reader, though, and can appreciate how important that background knowledge is if one isn't already a biologist.
Overall, I'd say this book makes for enlightening reading for anyone who's already a biology enthusiast, but perhaps might be a hard sell for non-bacteria fans. I still think Parasite Rex is Zimmer's most jaw-droppingly fascinating book, but I'd probably rate this one as his second best. Give it a read, why don't you?
onecrab's review against another edition
5.0
Brilliant!
I found out about Carl Zimmer from his collection of Science Tattoos. I began following his blog, The Loom, and found his writing to be interesting and very readable. A colleague of mine and I started talking about him (she had recently gotten a science tattoo!) and she highly recommended Microcosm.
A short summary would be either how E. coli changed the world, or it could be how the world changed E. coli. Science, research, disease, ethics, possibilities, consequences, history, space, and more are captured in this book.
It's a fantastic book.
I found out about Carl Zimmer from his collection of Science Tattoos. I began following his blog, The Loom, and found his writing to be interesting and very readable. A colleague of mine and I started talking about him (she had recently gotten a science tattoo!) and she highly recommended Microcosm.
A short summary would be either how E. coli changed the world, or it could be how the world changed E. coli. Science, research, disease, ethics, possibilities, consequences, history, space, and more are captured in this book.
It's a fantastic book.
christhedoll's review against another edition
5.0
Fascinating look at bacteria and how we can learn about ourselves by learning about them.
satyridae's review
4.0
Zimmer writes clearly and well. I've been reading his blog for some time and was glad to pick this up when it came out. It's a huge subject, and Zimmer does a fine job of giving enough information about many facets of the science happening around E. coli without swamping one in data. He's engaging and obviously passionate about his subject. I learned a lot about genetic engineering from this book. Highly recommended.