Quantity:

Express Checkout with PayPhrase

What's this? | Create PayPhrase

More Buying Choices

42 used & new from $16.01

Have one to sell? Sell yours here

Share with Friends

A Field Guide to Bacteria (Comstock Book)

See larger image

Share your own customer images

Publisher: learn how customers can search inside this book.

Tell the Publisher! I�d like to read this book on Kindle Don�t have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here.

A Field Guide to Bacteria (Comstock Book) (Paperback)

~ (Author)

4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)

List Price:	$26.95
Price:	$17.79 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details
You Save:	$9.16 (34%)
	o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.

Want it delivered Wednesday, November 18? Choose One-Day Shipping at checkout. Details

25 new from $16.56 17 used from $16.01

Formats		Amazon Price	New from	Used from
Hardcover Sign up to be notified when this item becomes available. Published April 30, 2003	Hardcover, April 30, 2003	--	--	--
Paperback $17.79 In Stock. Published April 30, 2003	Paperback, April 30, 2003	$17.79	$16.56	$16.01

Frequently Bought Together

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Guide to Microlife

by Kenneth G. Rainis

4.4 out of 5 stars (8) $23.76

Human Wildlife: The Life That Lives on Us

by Rob Buckman

4.3 out of 5 stars (7) $16.50

A Field Guide to Germs

by Wayne Biddle

4.4 out of 5 stars (17) $10.17

The Usborne Complete Book of the Microscope: Internet Linked (Complete Books)

by Kirsteen Rogers

4.8 out of 5 stars (4) $10.19

A World in a Drop of Water: Exploring with a Microscope

by Alvin Silverstein

4.2 out of 5 stars (4) $5.95

› Explore similar items

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This isn't a book on how to avoid E.coli and other nefarious bacteria that invade our food and homes, but an amateur naturalist's guide to all sorts of bacteria that can be seen (and smelled) without a microscope, from their habitats (hot springs, marine mud flats, even urban areas), to how to recognize and identify them in all their remarkable diversity. After all, the author reminds us, bacteria are "the most predominant organisms on Earth," and she even recommends taking a "bacteriocentric" point of view in order to understand them. All the major groupings are covered, along with information on how to culture bacteria, use a microscope and practice good safety precautions. More than 100 color illustrations will assist the happy bacteria hunter as well.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

"...open[s] the door to simple study and appreciation of bacteria,...allow[s] the field identification of nearly every major group." -- (Science, July 18, 2003) --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

Paperback: 355 pages
Publisher: Cornell University Press; 1 edition (May 2003)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0801488540
ISBN-13: 978-0801488542
Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 1.1 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)

Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #178,893 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

#25 in	Books > Science > Agricultural Sciences > Bacteriology
#80 in	Books > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Biological Sciences > Biotechnology
#86 in	Books > Science > Biological Sciences > Biotechnology

Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

› Visit Amazon's Betsey Dexter Dyer Page

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

	78% buy the item featured on this page: A Field Guide to Bacteria (Comstock Book) 4.8 out of 5 stars (5) $17.79
	9% buy Good Germs, Bad Germs: Health and Survival in a Bacterial World 5.0 out of 5 stars (21) $9.89
	5% buy The Usborne Complete Book of the Microscope: Internet Linked (Complete Books) 4.8 out of 5 stars (4) $10.19
	5% buy Guide to Microlife 4.4 out of 5 stars (8) $23.76

Explore similar items

Tags Customers Associate with This Product

(What's this?)

Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.

bacteria(6)

microbiology(3)

bacteriology(2)

germs(1)

Agree with these tags?

Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store

If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store. Learn more

Customer Reviews

5 Reviews

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

Average Customer Review

4.8 out of 5 stars (5 customer reviews)

Share your thoughts with other customers:

Create your own review

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant concept, great execution, fun book, June 12, 2003

By A Customer

This fun and informative book starts with the brilliant idea of identifying bacteria by their MACROscopic field marks (colors, smells, effects) rather than by microscope. You would never believe how many bacteria one can identify by "field marks" alone, and readers will be surprised at how much fun the identification and discussion of bacteria can be. The author's execution of the guide -- her excellent and enthusiastic writing style and her choices of which bacteria to discuss -- makes this the rare field guide that one can read from cover to cover. The book discusses everything from bacteria in hot springs to those that make cheese or pickles, to those in animal intestines. There are beautiful (yes, beautiful) color plates, great suggested experiments, and guides to finding different kinds of bacteria. The author makes the subject interesting, funny and captivating -- and she uses exclamation points without irony! All in all an excellent book -- don't be scared off by the title; any nature- or science-lover you know will thoroughly enjoy it.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars At Last: A Guide to Charismatic Microflora!, February 22, 2004

By	David B Richman (Mesilla Park, NM USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)

Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)

Betsey Dexter Dyer has written a book in "A Field Guide to Bacteria" that, once it is opened, you wonder why no one has written before. The premise is so obvious that it seems to have been totally overlooked! Location, visual appearance, activity, smell and other characteristics that do not always require a high-powered microscope can be used to identify bacterial colonies! Fortunately the "wait" for such a book (which, until now, we probably did not even know we needed) has been worth it because Dyer has done an excellent job of writing it! In this book she introduces the reader to the teaming microflora of bacteria of earth in a way that cannot help but increase the number of people who appreciate these invisible true owners of the planet.

The huge bacterial flora is well covered and the author's grasp of the multitudinous habitats where bacteria live and thrive, sometimes under the most extreme conditions, is impressive. Everything from sulfur bacteria, halophytes and causes of desert varnish to internal symbionts and more are covered in fascinating detail. Dyer has opened up a whole new way of looking at the world that give us a more accurate view of the pervasiveness of the tiny. Not all bacteria are out to get us by any means and this book provides a much needed balance to the "killer bacteria" usually featured in popular literature.

A necessary book for amateur and even professional microbiologists, it will also, I think, provide a good read for anyone interested in the natural world as it really is.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent even for professional microbiologists, February 17, 2004

By	Jonathan Badger (Washington, DC United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

While this book is intended for the general public, and is certainly accessible to those without microbiological training, don't pass it up even if you have microbiological training -- in many ways it is a condensed version of Balows' _The Prokaryotes_, and likewise quite useful for reminding oneself what obscure groups of bacteria do "for a living".

Of course, Dyer's book is a lighter, more amusing read than Balows', and chock full of the sort of anecdote that is fun to slip into a lecture -- such as the explanation of Charles Dickens' cryptic reference to a "bad lobster in a dark cellar" in _The Christmas Carol_, and the fact that the oddly named cyanobacterium _Nostoc_ was named by the alchemist Paracelsus!

In addition, I was pleasantly surprised that despite identifying herself on the very first page as a former student of Lynn Margulis, Dyer doesn't try to defend her mentor's continued rejection of the discoveries of molecular phylogeny, but even goes so far as to praise Woese and Sogin by name! It is refreshing to finally see a work of popular science that acknowledges how the pioneers of molecular phylogeny have changed microbiology over the last couple decades.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review

› See all 5 customer reviews...

Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars A Field Guide to Bacteria
This is a good book for those who want more information regarding deadly infections. My Mother got MRSA in the hospital, and it ate her flesh and her arms turned black where they... Read more

Published 5 months ago by Gail Fitches

5.0 out of 5 stars Why you should buy this book!
Where else can you learn why dead fish glow in the dark! Wonderful. Good attention given to my favorite bacteria and the great-grand parent of us all, cyanobacteria. Read more

Published 19 months ago by V. Lewis

› See all 5 customer reviews...

.jsOffDisplayBlock { display: block; } .jsOffDisplayInline { display: inline; } .jsOffVisibility { visibility: visible; } .jsOnDisplayBlock { display: none; } .jsOnDisplayNoneBlock { display: block; } .jsOnDisplayNoneInline { display: inline; } .jsOnDisplayInline { display: none; } .jsOnVisibility { visibility: hidden; } .jqOnDisplayBlock { display: none; } .jqOnDisplayInline { display: none; } .jqOnVisibility { visibility: hidden; } .jqOnDisplayNoneBlock { display: block; } .jqOnDisplayNoneInline { display: inline; }

Customer Discussions

This product's forum

Discussion	Replies	Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight

Start a new discussion

Topic:

First post:

Receive e-mail when new posts are made

Prompts for sign-in

Guidelines

Active discussions in related forums

Discussion	Replies	Latest Post
science Problems with the Natural Chemical "Origin of Life"	258	18 minutes ago
health Why oppose health care reform?	1173	35 minutes ago
science Are forum Darwinists really just a branch of ACORN?	200	45 minutes ago
health Why do cyclists more often go through red lights, and break numerous other road rules?	98	1 hour ago
science Global warming is nothing but a hoax and a scare tactic	3938	1 hour ago
textbook Textbooks for Kindle DX?	62	12 hours ago
textbook Anyone need psychology testbook- trying to sell a used copy	2	2 days ago