About this item
We live in a time of unprecedented scientific knowledge about the origins of life on Earth. But if we want to grasp the big picture, we have to start small - very small. That's because the real heroes of the story of life on Earth are microbes, the tiny living organisms we cannot see with the naked eye. Microbes were Earth's first lifeforms, early anaerobic inhabitants that created the air we breathe. Today they live, invisible and seemingly invincible, in every corner of the planet, from Yellowstone's scalding hot springs to Antarctic mountaintops to inside our very bodies - more than a hundred trillion of them. Don't be alarmed though: many microbes are allies in achieving our - to say nothing of our planet's - health. In Planet of Microbes, Ted Anton takes readers through the most recent discoveries about microbes, revealing their unexpected potential to reshape the future of the planet.
About the Author
Ted Anton is the author of The Longevity Seekers: Science, Business and the Fountain of Youth (University of Chicago Press, 2013) , and Bold Science: Seven Scientists Who Are Changing Our World (Henry Holt: 2000, 2001) , an amazon.com pick and a featured choice on www.howthingswork.com. His book, Eros, Magic and the Murder of Professor Culianu (Northwestern University Press: 1996) won a Carl Sandburg Award from the Friends of the Chicago Public Library. The New York Times called it "an engrossing story of a twentieth century original."
Anton's articles have been honored as finalist for a National Magazine Award, as notable essays in three years of Best American Essays, and appeared in several anthologies. A co-editor of The New Science Journalists (Ballantine, 1995) , he is a professor in the English department at DePaul University in Chicago.
