I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life - Ed Yong
Reading start: 2018-03-01
Reading finish: 2018-03-31
Reply to post #2
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No - we're reading it; everybody's just being a bit slack about posting comments in this thread and relying on status updates on their blogs instead. Things are a bit crazy right now at work, but when I get home, I'll make a point of posting my thoughts so far here, which is what I should have been doing from the start. :P
I read the book last year (year before?) so I'm not sure if I will re-read the whole thing or just skim through it and add my 2 cents.
I'm up to page 102 now, and man does Yong pack it in, while keeping the narrative really readable. I love the animal anecdotes, of course, but I'm also really enjoying the level of detail he goes into regarding the precarious balance we all maintain with bacteria. And the virus thing just really surprised me; I always knew bacteria could be good or bad, but I always thought of viruses as just bad.
I decided to join in yesterday, unfortunately I am awaiting my library copy (currently checked out from our sister branch at Rammstein AB) and will be a while, so most likely will read after everyone else is done. I will be better prepared for May's read!
Reply to post #6
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Welcome Tea! This one's been moving slowly for me; I've been taking my time with it, so there's a good chance you won't be too far behind. Either way, we're glad to have you join us. :)
Just got a copy from the library.
I finished it up last night - it was excellent. I never really understood the horizontal gene transfer until I read his explanation; I'd always just heard "bacteria can evolve instantly!" ... ::eye roll::
Is everyone else reading it enjoying it so far?
Still plodding along (I keep getting distracted), but this is very good.
This reminds me that I read Paul de Kruif's Microbe Hunters when I was an adolescent; it was a good read (Yong mentions it here), but it was published in 1926, not 2002, which he seems to suggest in one of his footnotes. (I'm a historian; I read the footnotes.)
Reply to post #10
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Could it have been a revised edition Yong cited?
Not certain. Possible, certainly. (The edition I have is ... uh, I think my mother got it used in about 1980, so no telling. From the covers I think it's from the mid-60s.)
Reply to post #14
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Yay! It's great isn't it? I keep thinking back to it so often; it's a great example of science writing done well.
It had to go back to the library, and I keep looking at my hold number, waiting for the number to go down.
Reply to post #16
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Oh that sounds SO frustrating! Hope you can ahold of it again soon!
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