| 9780393244403 |
| (hbk.) |
| 0393244407 |
Available:*
Library | Material Type | Call Number | Shelf Location | Status | Item Holds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Searching... Library 21c | Book | 579.1757 MONT | Nonfiction | Searching... Unknown | Searching... Unavailable |
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Summary
Summary
Prepare to set aside what you think you know about yourself and microbes. Good health--for people and for plants--depends on Earth's smallest creatures. The Hidden Half of Nature tells the story of our tangled relationship with microbes and their potential to revolutionize agriculture and medicine, from garden to gut.
When David R. Montgomery and Anne Biklé decide to restore life into their barren yard by creating a garden, dead dirt threatens their dream. As a cure, they feed their soil a steady diet of organic matter. The results impress them. In short order, the much-maligned microbes transform their bleak yard into a flourishing Eden. Beneath their feet, beneficial microbes and plant roots continuously exchange a vast array of essential compounds. The authors soon learn that this miniaturized commerce is central to botanical life's master strategy for defense and health.
They are abruptly plunged further into investigating microbes when Biklé is diagnosed with cancer. Here, they discover an unsettling truth. An armada of bacteria (our microbiome) sails the seas of our gut, enabling our immune system to sort microbial friends from foes. But when our gut microbiome goes awry, our health can go with it. The authors also discover startling insights into the similarities between plant roots and the human gut. We are not what we eat. We are all--for better or worse--the product of what our microbes eat.
This leads to a radical reconceptualization of our relationship to the natural world: by cultivating beneficial microbes, we can rebuild soil fertility and help turn back the modern plague of chronic diseases. The Hidden Half of Nature reveals how to transform agriculture and medicine--by merging the mind of an ecologist with the care of a gardener and the skill of a doctor.
Author Notes
David R. Montgomery is a professor at the University of Washington and a 2008 MacArthur Fellow.
Anne Biklé is a biologist and environmental planner. Her career spans the fields of environmental stewardship, habitat restoration, and public health. The Hidden Half of Nature is her first book.
Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
At the heart of this delightful book lies the simple belief that microbes have "shaped our past and how we treat them will shape our future in ways we are only beginning to understand." Montgomery (The Rocks Don't Lie), a MacArthur fellow and University of Washington geologist, and Biklé, an environmental planner, came to this conclusion after purchasing a home in Seattle and trying to plant a garden. The couple's attempt to rehabilitate desolate soil led them to explore the microenvironment beneath the ground. They discovered just how complex that ecosystem is, and how essential it is for the health and well-being of the larger ecosystems with which people have greater familiarity. The authors' growing appreciation of the role that soil microorganisms play led them to look into other critical functions that microbes perform. They focus most of their attention on the human gut and the symbiotic relationship humans have with the huge array of organisms living inside them, making the case that plants and humans have much in common. In addition to explaining how to cultivate both soil and intestinal flora, Montgomery and Biklé present an enjoyable summary of the history of microbiology, a thoughtful discussion of immunology, and a survey of agricultural practices. Illus. (Nov.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
According to the latest estimates from working microbiologists who track this kind of information, the teeming population of microbes living inside of us outnumbers our own cells by almost 10 to 1. As for those living in the soil and sea around us, the figure reaches into the thousands of trillions, taking up half of the weight of all life on Earth. This eye-opening new work from geologist and popular-science author Montgomery, coauthored with his biologist wife Biklé, is replete with many more astonishing facts such as these, including the momentous news that a revolution in microbiology is currently under way demonstrating just how critical these microbes are both to our own health and the health of the planet. While giving readers a thorough understanding of the many varieties and behaviors of microscopic creatures such as viruses, bacteria, and fungi, the authors also add a personal dimension, describing how microorganisms helped their garden blossom and recounting Biklé's ordeal with cancer. A must for all fascinated by the workings of the body and for those concerned with health care and the environment.--Hays, Carl Copyright 2015 Booklist
Choice Review
One cannot argue with the big picture in this book. Plants and people have evolved a mutually beneficial relationship with their respective microbiomes. Working with that ecological relationship makes more sense than subverting or ignoring it. Montgomery (geomorphology, Univ. of Washington), author of The Rocks Don't Lie (CH, Dec'12, 50-2085), and Bikle (biologist, environmentalist) have done a masterful job of interweaving the significance of soil health with its microbiome and human health with its microbiome. A healthy diet and a healthy soil promote well-being. Researchers in the field will feel a warm glow about this appreciative description of their science. However, Montgomery and Bikle oversimplified or ignored much prior work on the topic with which they had this eye-opening experience. To justify their thesis, they created a straw man of modern conventional agriculture and food production. Efficiency by farmers and responses to consumer wants, rather than conspiracy by chemical companies, have much to do with explaining current agricultural practices. Readers should approach this book by reflecting that intensive organic agriculture as Montgomery and Bikle practice it in their home garden has its own costs and limitations--particularly when it comes to the capacity to feed a global population. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates and general readers. --Mark Steven Coyne, University of Kentucky
Library Journal Review
Geologist Montgomery (geomorphology, Univ. of Washington, Seattle; The Rocks Don't Lie) and biologist Biklé share their personal accounts of transforming their yard into a lush garden after feeding the soil with organic matter. They also write about Biklé's battle with cancer, which propels them deeper into researching microbes. The authors argue that microbes are beneficial and powerful healers that can help infertile crops and battle chronic diseases. Additionally, eating certain foods helps to build healthy microbes. The authors demonstrate that humans and plants have more in common than many realize. A science background is not necessary for readers of this title as the authors do a fine job of explaining scientific terms and processes; they make the material exciting and intimate. VERDICT Recommended for general readers wishing to learn more about gardening, sustainability, and nutrition, as well as students and scholars of geology, microbiology, botany, the history of science, public health, agriculture, and nutrition.-Tina Chan, SUNY Oswego © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Table of Contents
| Introduction | p. 1 |
| 1 Dead Dirt | p. 7 |
| 2 Thinking Small | p. 24 |
| 3 Looking into Life | p. 35 |
| 4 Better Together | p. 52 |
| 5 War on the Soil | p. 64 |
| 6 Underground Allies | p. 89 |
| 7 Too Close to Home | p. 109 |
| 8 Inner Nature | p. 131 |
| 9 Invisible Enemies | p. 157 |
| 10 Feuding Saviors | p. 172 |
| 11 Personal Alchemists | p. 191 |
| 12 Tending the Garden | p. 208 |
| 13 Courting Ancient Friends | p. 224 |
| 14 Cultivating Health | p. 247 |
| Glossary | p. 261 |
| Notes | p. 265 |
| Sources | p. 270 |
| Acknowledgments | p. 291 |
| Index | p. 295 |
