Review by Choice Review
Life's Engines would be an excellent basis for a general education course in biology. A pleasure to read, the book touches on virtually every topic covered in a college biology curriculum by seamlessly weaving concepts with personal anecdotes and analogies. Presenting scientific facts and the fascinating history of their discovery, Falkowski (Rutgers Univ.) intersperses evolutionary theory with biochemistry, ecology, microbiology, molecular biology, anatomy, and even anthropology and economics. He also presents a fact-based, nonpolitical vision for the future of biotechnology. Students of biology frequently ask why they should care about basic science. Falkowski might respond with a sentiment such as this, from the last chapter of his book: "Thanks be to microbes for making this speck of detritus in the stardust of the universe a great place to live for their overgrown relatives, the animals and plants that temporarily decorate and rent the small dot from their microbial ancestors, who maintain it for their future relatives." This reviewer came away inspired to learn more. Easily understood by anyone with a passing knowledge of science, this volume poses innumerable questions for further investigation. Summing Up: Essential. All readers. --Deborah Schulman, Lake Erie College
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Library Journal Review
Falkowski (environmental & biological science, Rutgers Univ.) explains the processes by which microbes, through billions of years of evolution, created the world as we know it. He deftly blends science history with the latest research to detail how microbes came to be, the processes by which they made our oxygenated atmosphere possible, and how single-celled organisms eventually expanded to become multicelled creatures such as ourselves. The concluding chapters describe the mechanisms by which microbes continue to maintain a planet adequate for human habitation and how human activity is derailing these mechanisms, resulting in antibiotic-resistant bacteria and altering planetary chemistry too quickly for microbial evolution to keep up. Falkowski presents quite a bit of hard science in a lay-friendly format, using comparisons to everyday objects to explain difficult concepts. However, readers who recall a few basics from their high school science courses will grasp the material more easily. VERDICT For those with an interest in evolution, microbiology, planetary science, the history of science, and the future of the earth as a habitat capable of supporting human life.-Rachel Owens, Daytona State Coll. Lib., FL © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
