Microcosm In the 579’s

Title: Microcosm: E. coli and the New Science of Life
Author: Carl Zimmer
Source: from publisher for review
Rating: ★★★★☆
Fun Fact: Human gut microbes can reach a population of 100 trillion, out numbering our cells 10 to 1.
Review Summary: No matter what the description claims, this lacks the elegant prose and brilliant philosophy in Lives of a Cell. It does do it’s own thing quite well though, giving a great introduction to some crucial biology plus a plethora of fun facts.

Microcosm is a history of E. coli but more than that, it’s a history of modern biology. So much of what we do in the lab today depends on these little bacteria that looking at biology through the lens of E. coli lends itself well to discussing almost all of modern microbiology. It also includes a few philosophical musings and, at the other end of the spectrum, some practical insight into the job of a microbiologist.