Invisible Allies: Microbes That Shape Our Lives (Bccb Blue Ribbon Nonfiction Book Award (Awards)) [Hardcover]

Jeanette Farrell (Author)

Book Description

Series: Bccb Blue Ribbon Nonfiction Book Award (Awards) | Publication Date: March 24, 2005

Mmm-mmm, microbes!

Although we are accustomed to equating the presence of microbes with disease, in fact most microbes play a vital "friendly" role in shaping our lives. It is not just that one hundred million microbes can populate a thimbleful of fertile soil, or that many millions live happily in as much of our saliva. Microbes are everywhere, and we could not survive without them. To emphasize their amazing ubiquity, Jeanette Farrell considers the invisible bugs essential to an everyday event: the eating of a light lunch consisting of a cheese sandwich and a chocolate bar. Microbes create such a lunch, digest it, and, through the alchemy of decomposition, transform it so that the cycle can start all over again. In the course of her eye-opening narrative, Dr. Farrell relates the historical significance of using microbes to preserve foods, our long-standing ambivalence about the microbes that live on and in us, and our growing understanding of their importance.

Interspersed with fascinating anecdotes and illustrations, Invisible Allies will transform the reader's perception of the microcosmic world - around and inside us.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Starred Review. Grade 6 Up–While Farrell's Invisible Enemies (Farrar, 1998) presented the struggle against disease-causing microbes, this lively and engaging companion offers intriguing insight into those that play a more helpful role in shaping our lives. The variety necessary for human survival is simply astonishing, and the author presents many of them in captivating detail. The book begins with a brief introduction to and history of these organisms. Chapters are devoted to the historical importance of food preservation and the use of microbes in producingcheese, bread, and chocolate. Information on the microbes necessary to digest such a meal and then to decompose it is included. The final chapter provides an exhaustive description of a waste-treatment plant. Complementary black-and-white photographs and illustrations are included throughout the text. This is a fascinating read, as well as a source of useful information for reports.–Maren Ostergard, Bellevue Regional Library, WA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* Gr. 6-9. The author of Invisible Enemies (1998), Farrell now offers a fascinating, broad-ranging and imminently readable book on the beneficial roles of microbes. After stating some amazing facts about microbes and advising readers against "running, somewhat futilely, for a bar of soap," the introduction provides a vivid picture of Antony van Leeuwenhoek's discovery of microorganisms in 1676. The chapters that follow consider beneficial microbes in the production of bread, cheese, and chocolate as well as their vital role in the gut, where they break down certain foods, kill harmful microbes, and enable certain genes in the intestines to maximize digestion. Finally, Farrell explains the process by which microbes dispose of human waste in sewage treatment plants, noting that they are also used to clean up oil spills and toxins in the environments. Illustrations include photos as well as interesting archival material. Without talking down to her audience or hyping the grosser aspects of the subject, Farrell presents what is known about beneficial microbes and acknowledges the ongoing study of these amazing life-forms. Carolyn Phelan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR); 1st edition (March 24, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0374336083
• ISBN-13: 978-0374336080
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,112,276 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting Book about Microbes!, June 21, 2008

By 

M. Lopez "mom_in_Austin" (Austin, TX) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Invisible Allies: Microbes That Shape Our Lives (Bccb Blue Ribbon Nonfiction Book Award (Awards)) (Hardcover)

My 10 year old son came across this book at our local library and checked it out. We've been reading it together for the past two days and found it very interesting (and not too difficult for my 10 yr old to understand although I had to help him with latin names for various bacteria). The bits of history mixed with science made the book fun & interesting to read :-)

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Invisible Allies, May 8, 2008

By 

P. Ciccone (Rochester Hills, MI United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Invisible Allies: Microbes That Shape Our Lives (Bccb Blue Ribbon Nonfiction Book Award (Awards)) (Hardcover)

I found this book immensely interesting, actually I'm still reading a library copy, and just came online to order one for me, my sister, and my dad - my mom will like it too! If your into how fermented food works, it's fascinating. We truly live in amazing world. I'm going to get her other book too!

2 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Invisible Allies, March 7, 2008

By 

M. Boehm "nsg girl" (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Invisible Allies: Microbes That Shape Our Lives (Bccb Blue Ribbon Nonfiction Book Award (Awards)) (Hardcover)

This book was so boring that I couldn't get past the second chapter. I thought it would be about the good microbes in the human body and in the first two chapters, all it talked about was cheese and bread. I would not recomend this book to anyone.