Liaisons of Life
From Hornworts to Hippos,
How the Unassuming Microbe Has Driven Evolution
by Tom Wakeford
A fascinating exploration of symbiosis at the microscopic level and its
radical extension of Darwinism. Microbes have long been considered
dangerous
and disgusting - in short, "s***." But by forming mutually beneficial
relation****ps with nearly every creature, be it alga with animals or
zooplankton with zebrafish, microbes have in fact been innovative players
in
the evolutionary process. Now biologist and award-winning science writer
Tom
Wakeford shows us this extraordinary process at work. He takes us to such
far-flung locales as underwater volcanoes, African termite mounds, the
belly
of a cow and even the gaps between our teeth, and there introduces us to a
microscopic world at turns bizarre, seductive, and frightening, but ever
responsible for advancing life in our macroscopic world. In doing so he
also
justifies the courage and vision of a series of scientists who were
persecuted for believing evolution is as much a matter of interdependence
and cooperation as it is great too-little-told tales of evolutionary
science.
John Wiley & Sons, New York, 2001, 1st printing, 212 pages, 5" x 8", trade
paperback.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=310051033751
Auction closes 5/22/08.
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