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| Microcosm: E. coli and the New Science of Life | 
| Author: Carl Zimmer
Publisher: Pantheon
Category: Book
List Price: $25.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  (12 reviews)
Sales Rank: 10558
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 256
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 5.9 x 1.1
ISBN: 037542430X
Dewey Decimal Number: 579.342
EAN: 9780375424304
ASIN: 037542430X
Publication Date: May 6, 2008
Release Date: May 6, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Microcosms August 12, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
First, Carl Zimmer is an excellent writer. He seems to have done his homework thoroughly. The book is rich and rewarding, and much appreciated.
I will make two suggestions. One, a glossary would be very helpful. The lay reader (his intended audience) is not very familiar with the arcane biological types that are continuously bantered about. A glossary would not be difficult to produce, or too lengthy to add. I'm really curious as to why a glossary was not added because it seems such an obvious thing to do.
Two, along the same lines, a chart or diagram to display major kinds of microcosms, maybe a sort of tree branching. It would let a lay reader visualize the different branches of bacteria, viruses, e-coli and variations (perhaps evolutionary branching, and a time scale - that would be wonderful), etc.
I write this review after having read about 90% of the book, but continue to be frustrated by the above two absences.
Nevertheless, a very worthwhile book. I highly recommend it, especially if Mr. Zimmer and his publisher would make the two additions on the next printing.Microcosm: E. coli and the New Science of Life
 Biology as Seen from E. coli, a mere Bacterium, Courtesy of Carl Zimmer July 2, 2008
15 out of 15 found this review helpful
With the trained eyes of a scientist and the soul of poet, eminent science writer Carl Zimmer takes us on an all too brief, yet fascinating, trek into contemporary biology, as seen from the perspective of the bacterium Escherichia coli, in his latest book, "Microcosm: E. coli and the New Science of Life". More than a mere recounting of decades of elegant scientific research from the likes of Joshua Lederberg and Salvador Luria, among others, "Microcosm" is truly a book about contemporary biology itself, tying in almost every facet of it, from systematics to population genetics and ecology, and even, paleobiology. But it is a book that takes such an in-depth exploration of biology from the unique perspective of a rather most unassuming organism - or at least what readers might think - the bacterium E. coli, whose ubiquitous habitats include the intestinal tracts of humans and other mammals. Indeed, E. coli is truly a wonderful organismal metaphor for describing all of biology in its totality, as evidenced, for example, in one of Zimmer's terse chapters devoted to the evolution of cooperation amongst organisms via mechanisms such as natural selection and kin selection; an elegant experimental analogue to the types of selective pressures operating on other, more complex, organisms, including us. Indeed, "Microcosm" ought to be regarded as "Macrocosm", since Zimmer has offered an elegant, often poetic, exploration of all of biology, by demonstrating E. coli's scientific relevance to humanity.
If there is indeed one important underlying theme to "Microcosm", then perhaps it is the prevalence of sex in this single-celled organism, and its importance as a key ingredient in understanding evolution, which was recognized decades ago by a young Joshua Lederberg. Zimmer describes how E. coli has demonstrated the veracity of Darwin's concept of natural selection, via an elegant "slot machine" experiment designed by Salvador Luria, and culminating now in the ongoing experiment by microbial ecologist Richard Lenski; Zimmer's engaging account of which is among the most important highlights of this book (Yet as a brief aside, I am surprised Zimmer did not mention that Lenski's research is offering experimental proof of evolutionary stasis, as defined by paleontologists Niles Eldredge and Stephen Jay Gould in their theory of punctuated equilibrium; a point emphasized in a relatively recent paper co-authored by Lenski, Eldredge and others.). Zimmer also devotes ample time touching on other aspects of E. coli's evolutionary ecology from a public health perspective, tracing the origins of epidemics caused by toxic strains of this otherwise benign prokaryote. There is also, regrettably, ample discussion too of creationist interest in E. coli as an example of an organism created by an "Intelligent Designer"; Zimmer notes correctly that creationists were interested in its flagellum years before the bacterial flagellum became important "proof" supporting leading Intelligent Design advocate Michael Behe's concept of "Irreducible Complexity", and how this "proof" was demolished effectively by prominent Intelligent Design critic Ken Miller during the 2005 Kitzmiller vs. Dover Area School District trial.
A Surprisingly Universal Microbiology June 10, 2008
12 out of 13 found this review helpful
Inside your gut are maybe a hundred trillion cells. The number is an interesting one, because these cells sitting in your digestive tract outnumber the neurons, muscle cells, and other cells that make "you" by ten to one. In other words, by the numbers, your own cells are a machine that exists to keep a huger number of cells alive in your intestines. Among those trillions of cells is a small population of _Escherichia coli_, one of the world's most important and most studied bacteria. They may be tiny, but they are numerous and they are not simple, and the lessons within _Microcosm: E. coli and the New Science of Life_ (Pantheon) by science writer Carl Zimmer are that there is a complex cosmos of activity within _E. coli_, and there are relationships between one _E. coli_ and its fellow _E. coli_ and the other microbes churning in our guts, and there are relationships between _E. coli_ and the bigger animals that carry it. It is all as complicated as can be; we have come a long way in understanding some of these mysteries, but mysteries still abound. Zimmer's wonderful book keeps us from taking these humble bacteria for granted; as products of the same evolutionary processes that produced us, they have much in common with us.
Scientists make _E. coli_ a particular subject of investigation; it was one of the first microbes whose genome was fully mapped (1997). A few strains have toxins, but usually our own _E. coli_ are quietly going about their business and are a help to us. The intricacies of just one cell are astounding. An _E. coli_ has sixty million molecules which have to act just so to keep the bacterium living, and Zimmer examines a few of the intricate feedback systems involved. A team of microbiologists has succeeded in programming a computer with information on 1,260 of its genes and 2,077 of its chemical reactions; a huge program can predict what _E. coli_ will do, for instance, if starved for oxygen, and the model gets it right. But little _E. coli_ has been getting it right for ages. One of its pieces Zimmer pays special attention to is its flagellum, its means of mobility. Zimmer, in several pages devoted to flagella and Intelligent Design, tells again the story of the Dover, Pennsylvania, court decision that Intelligent Design had only religion going for it, not science, and thus could not be taught in public schools. A lawyer at the trial said, "We could probably call this the Bacterial Flagellum Trial", since the flagellum was discussed in detail, and was shown not to be "irreducibly complex", the supposed hallmark of designed systems that cannot be made any simpler and still remain operational. The ID proponents have only an "It's too wonderful not to have a designer" attitude, not experiments or evidence. Zimmer shows how there is within _E. coli_ molecular evidence that flagella are related to other bacterial systems, and that hypotheses built on this evidence show how natural selection was indeed sufficient to build flagella. Scientists can't say for sure that flagella were built in one certain way, but if the proposed steps of building reasonably come from the data, there is no reason to think that a deity somehow took pity on immobile bacteria and miraculously equipped them with motors.
"I look at life through a lens made of _E. coli_," writes Zimmer, and writes convincingly about how biologists are doing the same. Not only was the _E. coli_ genome among the first to be completely deciphered, they have been used to help understand how genes switch on and off. They are a foundation point for the study of molecular and now synthetic biology. They do a lot of the things we do. They sense nutrition molecules and go for them; they sense unattractive chemicals and run from them. They cooperate with other _E. coli_ and have a social life; they are not the loners scientists had originally thought, but can build their own microbial city. They have a type of chemical warfare that they deploy against enemies. They have a sex not in the way we do, but in their own way. They fight viruses and have virus-injected coding on their DNA just as we do. Zimmer frequently refers to the famous remark of biologist Jacques Monod, who said, "What is true for _E. coli_ is true for the elephant." There is hyperbole there, of course, but in one example after another, Zimmer's clear and enthusiastic prose beautifully demonstrates a biological and evolutionary universality.
Good balance of science and story May 26, 2008
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
It would have been easy to make this book very dry, and the author did an excellent job of balancing scientific detail with a good narrative. It includes just enough components of history and science to be complete without over-doing either area.
The author takes us from the isolation of E. coli in 1885 to, for example, current debates over how some mutations help bacteria survive environmental stress. Between these two benchmarks the author weaves a well-written story that covers what is known about E. coli and other bacteria. More importantly, he also explains why we know what we know. Of perhaps the greatest worth is the book's coverage of why natural selection is such an important scientific concept, using drug resistance as one of many examples.
A nice read for either the interested layperson or the professional.
Fascinating and well-written May 23, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
This is an outstanding book. In each chapter, Zimmer exposes a fascinating aspect of biological science, revolving around the study of and lessons learned from E. Coli. This microbe, often maligned in the press, is made an interesting and compelling protagonist in this highly readable book. Some of the descriptions of experiments may be a bit confusing to the lay reader (putting things into centrifuges and seeing what spins out, and how it proves one or another particular theory), but with a bit of concentration those will become clear as well. Highly recommended.
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