Microcosmos
Four Billion Years of Microbial Evolution
$23.9, £13.95 paperback
978-0-520-21064-6
Available Now
304 pages, 5-1/2 x 8-1/4 inches, 13 line illustrations, 4 tables.
May 1997, Available worldwide
Categories: Ecology, Evolution, Environment; Evolution; Astronomy; Organismal Biology
May 1997, Available worldwide
Categories: Ecology, Evolution, Environment; Evolution; Astronomy; Organismal Biology
"A luminous prose style. . . . Clear, evocative and, at its best, dense with realities rather than concepts or opinions, [Microcosmos] grips the serious reader in a way that transcends both science and science journalism."—Melvin Konner, New York Times Book Review
"Microcosmos is a book for all to read. Although the ideas expressed with such clarity and enthusiasm in this enthralling volume are soundly based on current scientific research they are couched in a language that anyone with a smattering of biology can easily grasp. . . . Microcosmos is a book packed with information and fascinating detail, but all of it to the purpose of demonstrating how life forms are interwoven with each other."—Peter Bunyard, The Ecologist
"A stunning, complex chronicle. . . proposing that only an understanding of the microcosm from which life sprang can make possible our ultimate leap beyond Earth into a human-devised supercosm."—Publishers Weekly
"Microcosmos is a book for all to read. Although the ideas expressed with such clarity and enthusiasm in this enthralling volume are soundly based on current scientific research they are couched in a language that anyone with a smattering of biology can easily grasp. . . . Microcosmos is a book packed with information and fascinating detail, but all of it to the purpose of demonstrating how life forms are interwoven with each other."—Peter Bunyard, The Ecologist
"A stunning, complex chronicle. . . proposing that only an understanding of the microcosm from which life sprang can make possible our ultimate leap beyond Earth into a human-devised supercosm."—Publishers Weekly
BACK IN PRINT WITH A REVISED PREFACE
Microcosmos brings together the remarkable discoveries of microbiology of the past two decades and the pioneering research of Dr. Margulis to create a vivid new picture of the world that is crucial to our understanding of the future of the planet. Addressed to general readers, the book provides a beautifully written view of evolution as a process based on interdependency and thei nterconnectedness of all life on the planet.
Microcosmos brings together the remarkable discoveries of microbiology of the past two decades and the pioneering research of Dr. Margulis to create a vivid new picture of the world that is crucial to our understanding of the future of the planet. Addressed to general readers, the book provides a beautifully written view of evolution as a process based on interdependency and thei nterconnectedness of all life on the planet.
From the Foreword by Dr. Lewis Thomas:
"Microcosmos is nothing less than the saga of the life of the planet. Lynn Margulis and Dorion Sagan have put it all together, literally, in this extraordinary book, which is unlike any treatment of evolution for a general readership that I have encountered before. A fascinating account that we humans should be studying now for clues to our own survival."
"Microcosmos is nothing less than the saga of the life of the planet. Lynn Margulis and Dorion Sagan have put it all together, literally, in this extraordinary book, which is unlike any treatment of evolution for a general readership that I have encountered before. A fascinating account that we humans should be studying now for clues to our own survival."
Foreword by Lewis Thomas (1986)
Preface (1997)
Acknowledgments
Introduction: The Microcosm
1. Out of the Cosmos
2. The Animation of Matter
3. The Language of Nature
4. Entering the Microcosm
5. Sex and Worldwide Genetic Exchange
6. The Oxygen Holocaust
7. New Cells
8. Living Together
9. The Symbiotic Brain
10. The Riddle of Sex
11. Late Bloomers: Animals and Plants
12. Egocentric Man
13. The Future Supercosm
Notes
Index
Preface (1997)
Acknowledgments
Introduction: The Microcosm
1. Out of the Cosmos
2. The Animation of Matter
3. The Language of Nature
4. Entering the Microcosm
5. Sex and Worldwide Genetic Exchange
6. The Oxygen Holocaust
7. New Cells
8. Living Together
9. The Symbiotic Brain
10. The Riddle of Sex
11. Late Bloomers: Animals and Plants
12. Egocentric Man
13. The Future Supercosm
Notes
Index
What Is Life?, by Lynn Margulis and Dorion Sagan
Dust, by Joseph A. Amato
Life's Matrix, by Philip Ball
Prehistoric Past Revealed: The Four Billion Year History of Life on Earth, by Douglas Palmer
Infinite Worlds: An Illustrated Voyage to Planets beyond Our Sun, by Ray Villard and Lynette R. Cook
Life's Origin: The Beginnings of Biological Evolution, edited by J. William Schopf
Spacefaring: The Human Dimension, by Albert A. Harrison
Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, Ptolemaic and Copernican, Second Revised edition, by Galileo Galilei
Dust, by Joseph A. Amato
Life's Matrix, by Philip Ball
Prehistoric Past Revealed: The Four Billion Year History of Life on Earth, by Douglas Palmer
Infinite Worlds: An Illustrated Voyage to Planets beyond Our Sun, by Ray Villard and Lynette R. Cook
Life's Origin: The Beginnings of Biological Evolution, edited by J. William Schopf
Spacefaring: The Human Dimension, by Albert A. Harrison
Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, Ptolemaic and Copernican, Second Revised edition, by Galileo Galilei