This book transforms a difficult subject into terms and ideas that every attentive student can readily understand. Major topics covered include: the microbial world, cellular chemistry, observing microbes through a microscope, microbial growth and reproduction, microbial genetics, bacteria, archaea, eukaryotic microorganisms such as fungi and protozoa, viruses, the disease process, epidemiology, antimicrobial drugs, practical applications of immunology, infectious diseases, and many others. The book includes charts, tables, and review questions with answers. Barron's Easy Way books introduce a variety of academic and practical subjects to students and general readers in clear, understandable language. Ideal as self-teaching manuals for readers interested in learning a new career-related skill, these books have also found widespread classroom use as supplementary texts and brush-up test-preparation guides. Subject heads and key phrases that need to be learned are set in a second color.
I'm a science teacher, writer, wife, and mom (not necessarily in that order!) who lives in the beautiful Pacific Northwest. At Everett Community College in Everett, Washington (about 40 miles north of Seattle), I teach classes in general biology, cellular biology, microbiology, and global health. In addition to working with my college students, I sometimes work on science teaching with teachers in the local K-12 school systems.
I've basically always loved science -- one of my earliest memories is trying to out-compete a fellow student in elementary school to see who could collect more facts about the solar system! Although that contest was about astronomy, biology proved to be my lasting love. I majored in biology at Boston University, taking lots of classes in botany and microbiology. After that, I worked for a while in a lab devoted to science and science writing before heading to graduate school at the University of Washington, where I earned a Ph.D. in Botany. It was in graduate school that I discovered that I really love helping others learn about science.
Ever since grad school, I've been on a journey to learn how to help others understand science. That journey has led me to learning more about learning itself, as well as to write science books that are designed for non-scientists or students of science (which you can see here on my Amazon page).
In my spare time (hah hah), I'm a mad reader of books of all sorts, a scrapbooker, a good cook, a haphazard gardener, and a wanna be backyard farmer.
If you check out any of my books, I hope you enjoy them and find them useful! Science helps us understand the world around us and I truly believe that everyone needs -- and can learn to appreciate -- a little science in their lives.
