I Contain Multitudes

The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life

by

368 pages

Published Aug. 9, 2016 by Ecco.

ISBN:
978-0-06-236859-1
Copied ISBN!
OCLC Number:
925497449

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4 stars (46 reviews)

Joining the ranks of popular science classics like The Botany of Desire and The Selfish Gene, a groundbreaking, wondrously informative, and vastly entertaining examination of the most significant revolution in biology since Darwin—a “microbe’s-eye view” of the world that reveals a marvelous, radically reconceived picture of life on earth.

Every animal, whether human, squid, or wasp, is home to millions of bacteria and other microbes. Ed Yong, whose humor is as evident as his erudition, prompts us to look at ourselves and our animal companions in a new light—less as individuals and more as the interconnected, interdependent multitudes we assuredly are.

The microbes in our bodies are part of our immune systems and protect us from disease. In the deep oceans, mysterious creatures without mouths or guts depend on microbes for all their energy. Bacteria provide squid with invisibility cloaks, help beetles to bring down forests, and allow worms to …

8 editions

Review of 'I Contain Multitudes' on 'Goodreads'

2 stars

 This was a pick by one of the two book groups I’m in and I’m wondering why. Published in 2016, it’s already well out of date. Reading it is like coming across someone’s newspaper clippings on the subject of microbes they compiled from 2010 to 2015. Much of what’s in this book has been covered and updated in the semi-popular press.
 There are other problems with it.
• The title is misleading. You think it’s going to be all about the microbes humans carry inside them, but at best, just twenty percent of it’s about that. Most of it is about microbes in general, and we learn a lot about microbes in insects. For some reason, there’s a long part about the degradation of coral reefs, an important topic, yes, but it’s been well covered elsewhere.
• There are far too many notes (376 over 264 pages), and you don’t …

Review of 'I Contain Multitudes' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Years ago, I read [b:Life On Man|9347542|Life On Man|Theodor Rosebury|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1437958401s/9347542.jpg|3805548] by [a:Theodor Rosebury|1602817|Theodor Rosebury|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]. (and also his [b:Microbes and Morals|3971855|Microbes and Morals|Theodor Rosebury|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/book/50x75-a91bf249278a81aabab721ef782c4a74.png|4017612]) yet I remember little about them. I remember liking them (why I read two of them). I bring them up because Mr Roseburry is frequently quoted in I Contain Multitudes, a book that is in a very real sense it's predecessor. Interestingly, Rosebury was a scientist and researcher while Ed Yong is a journalist yet Rosebury is the better writer of the two (if I recall my reading experience correctly). I say this because at times Mr. Yong gives too much detail for a lay reader such as myself and I found it hard to follow what I probably didn't need to follow at all.

There is so much I learned from this book. Multitudes, perhaps. Much has been discovered since Rosebury's day thanks to advances in …

Review of 'I Contain Multitudes' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

This book shifts your thinking about self: humans and other animals are ensemble beings, composed of countless species that work together as an ecosystem. With ideas like horizontal gene transfer, we're learning how permeable we are to each other's genetic material, what the challenges are behind antibiotic resistance, disease, and updating our understanding of what good health is.

Review of 'I Contain Multitudes' on 'Storygraph'

5 stars

I'll never think of bacteria the same way again.
We tend to think of bacteria as contaminants, as carriers of disease, something to be eliminated as much as possible. Yong helps us see them in a much different light: bacteria comprise most of the life on this planet; they're everywhere, and only a small fraction of bacterial species cause us harm.
Since bacteria are ubiquitous, it makes sense that evolution would have made use of them. Given how versatile bacteria are, it's no wonder that many organisms harbor them and make use of them to digest food, or produce other important chemicals. You can look at your intestinal flora as a garden or a farm, where you provide food and shelter for bacteria that help you digest, or crowd out harmful bacteria. In fact, we can even go farther and see certain collections of bacteria as separate organs, ones that …

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