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Never Home Alone: From Microbes to Millipedes, Camel Crickets, and Honeybees, the Natural History of Where We Live by [Rob Dunn]

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Rob R. Dunn

Never Home Alone: From Microbes to Millipedes, Camel Crickets, and Honeybees, the Natural History of Where We Live Kindle Edition

by Rob Dunn (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

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A natural history of the wilderness in our homes, from the microbes in our showers to the crickets in our basements

Even when the floors are sparkling clean and the house seems silent, our domestic domain is wild beyond imagination. In Never Home Alone, biologist Rob Dunn introduces us to the nearly 200,000 species living with us in our own homes, from the Egyptian meal moths in our cupboards and camel crickets in our basements to the lactobacillus lounging on our kitchen counters. You are not alone. Yet, as we obsess over sterilizing our homes and separating our spaces from nature, we are unwittingly cultivating an entirely new playground for evolution. These changes are reshaping the organisms that live with us -- prompting some to become more dangerous, while undermining those species that benefit our bodies or help us keep more threatening organisms at bay. No one who reads this engrossing, revelatory book will look at their homes in the same way again.

Print length

278 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Basic Books
Publication date

November 6, 2018
File size

19546 KB
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Utterly fascinating... a spirited romp through the vast diversity that inhabits our daily lives and how we've changed our ecosystems, often for the worse."―Washington Post

"In his fascinating new book...Mr. Dunn brings a scientist's sensibility to our domestic jungle by exploring the paradox of the modern home.... Mr. Dunn also gracefully explains, without getting bogged down in details, the technology that has allowed scientists during the past decade or so to sequence the DNA of millions of previously unknown microbes, making his book an excellent layperson's guide to cutting-edge research."―Wall Street Journal

"Chatty, informative... it's hard not to be occasionally charmed by [Dunn's] prose, as when he catalogs the arthropods with whom we share our homes... And it's hard not to share, at least a little, his awe at their diversity, even in a single household."―New York Times Book Review

"[A] fascinating and illuminating book... Dunn and his colleagues have used the concepts and techniques of community ecology to tease apart the functioning of a mostly ignored ecosystem: the human home. Their research enriches our understanding of ecosystem function, and--more grippingly--gives us insight into how our interactions with living things in the domestic habitat affect our health and well-being."―Nature

"Never Home Alone is a thumping good book that raises alarm and offers reassurance in roughly equal measure. And it is funny... What makes [it] so compelling is a sense of wonder and delight that encompasses all sorts of creatures and all sorts of science."―Los Angeles Review of Books

"Intriguing... Seen through Dunn's curious eyes, a house becomes not just a set of rooms, but a series of habitats to be explored. His writing and research lend a new appreciation of what many of us consider pests."―Science News

"If you're an insectophobe looking for a thrill, you'll love Rob Dunn's Never Home Alone, which details the thousands of species of insects and microbes that live in and around your home."―Bustle

"If you could somehow infuse the curiosity of a 6-year-old with Ph.D.-level intelligence, imagine what wondrous things you could learn. Or why not make it easier on yourself, and just read Never Home Alone. Yes, that delightful, open-minded gee-whiz is exactly what makes this book so enjoyable. Surprisingly, it's doubly so for a germophobe, an arachnophobe, or anyone who can't stand the idea of intruders. Dunn has a way of brushing fears aside so he can tell you about something that's too cool to miss, or a fact that makes you say, 'Wow!'... Science-minded readers will love this book. It's filled with things you'll want to know for the health of it. Really, for anyone who's alive, Never Home Alone is a book to share with a few million of your newest best friends."―Terri Schlichenmeyer, The Bookworm Sez columnist

"If you enjoyed I Contain Multitudes, this book should be next on your reading list. Just like Ed Yong shows readers the fascinating microorganisms all around us, Dunn opens our eyes to the minute creatures that live within the confinement of our own homes... a fascinating and entertaining read."―Read More Science

Finalist, 2020 Smart Book of the Year award―Jagiellonian University

"Wonderful."―TreeHugger

"Crammed full of eensy-weensy tales of wonder from the insect world.... On virtually every page, readers learn about these marvels and their potential applications so the benefit of humans, all of it written with the bounce and insight of a true believer...[a] hugely important book."―Open Letters Review

"A robust, scientific defence for both microbial life and for larger creatures too often exterminated simply because they've invaded our space. While data from copious end notes support staid scientific facts from strictly controlled lab tests, an engaging writing style enlivens narratives such as those about microbes in shower heads and beetles on windowsills, transforming Dunn's latest work into a profound understanding of how all living things help in constructing and maintaining our planet's complex web of life."―Winnipeg Free Press

"A good book about niche science, which deserves to be widely read."―Sunday Times (UK)

"Over a number of years, Rob Dunn, a U.S. biologist and ecologist and his team, surveyed the species to be found in 1,000 houses from around the world. The results, revealed in this remarkable, jaw-dropping, occasionally unappetising book, are astonishing."―Daily Mail (UK)

"A lively compendium of hard science, anecdote, history, and personal memoir.... Something of a scientific raconteur, Dunn tells his story of the macro and micro biome of our homes in a colloquial...stye that makes the heavy science go down easy."―Shelf Awareness

"[An] intriguing and captivating scientific detective story...Dunn eloquently observes that many species we find in our homes have value to us."―BookPage

"Scintillating... In a time of clear-eyed assessment of the environment, Dunn is a voice of reason who should be heartily welcomed."―Booklist, starred review

"Of course we must chlorinate our water, wash our hands, get vaccinated, and so on, Dunn argues persuasively and entertainingly. But we also need to relax and cultivate biodiversity for the good of all life on Earth."―Kirkus Reviews

"An entertaining tour of the biodiversity found in one of the fastest-growing biomes: indoors... This book will be enjoyed by biologists but also general readers with an appreciation for nature."―Library Journal

"Delightfully entertaining and scientifically enlightening... [Dunn] makes a compelling case for the value of biodiversity, while also conveying the excitement of scientific investigation, demonstrating that important discoveries can be made very close to home."―Publishers Weekly

"Easy to read and accessible... Recommended."―CHOICE

"Never Home Alone is a superb guide to your own house--a place that is home to hundreds of thousands of species--a far richer habitat than even the largest backyard. This riveting and surprising book is one of those rare volumes that will make you gasp out loud on almost every page, and phone your friends to report stunning fact after stunning fact. Thank you, Rob Dunn: I love our house even more now I understand it shelters multitudes of fascinating (and mostly benevolent) living creatures."―Sy Montgomery, author of The Soul of an Octopus

"If you're looking for a guide to the teeming, tiny, tenacious creatures that share our bodies, our homes--and may one day well inherit our planet--you could not do better than this fascinating book by Rob Dunn."―Deborah Blum, author of The Poisoner's Handbook

"Rob Dunn is a brilliant explorer of the strange, mostly uncharted biology of our homes and bodies. This must-read book is full of astonishing stories, skillfully told."―David George Haskell, author of The Songs of Trees and The Forest Unseen

"If you truly want to know yourself and be amazed, get to know your ecology. This charming book shows how important and fun it is to discover the astonishing world of marvelous and unseen creatures around us. You'll never take a shower again in the same way!"―Daniel E. Lieberman, author of The Story of the Human Body

"In Never Home Alone, Rob Dunn reveals the unseen wilderness that surrounds us every day. This book will change the way you think about everything from dust to spiders to showerheads--a fascinating and highly recommended read!"―Thor Hanson, author of Buzz, Feathers, and The Triumph of Seeds

"A Brooklyn couple visiting the West told me, 'We don't do nature.' Today, I'm sending them a copy of Rob Dunn's Never Home Alone, with this note: 'Nature made you, so roll in the dirt, open the windows, get a dog. Change your showerhead, but don't kill your spiders. And read this terrific book at once.'"―Dan Flores, author of Coyote America --This text refers to the hardcover edition.

About the Author

Rob Dunn is a professor in the Department of Applied Ecology at North Carolina State University and in the Natural History Museum of Denmark at the University of Copenhagen. He is the author of The Man Who Touched His Own Heart, The Wild Life of Our Bodies, and Every Living Thing, and his magazine work is published widely, including in National Geographic, Natural History, New Scientist, Scientific American, and Smithsonian. He has a PhD from the University of Connecticut and was a Fulbright Fellow. He lives in Raleigh, North Carolina. --This text refers to the hardcover edition.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B07B8LFHLH
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Basic Books (November 6, 2018)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ November 6, 2018
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 19546 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 278 pages
Lending ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled

Best Sellers Rank: #1,700,370 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #974 in Environmental Ecology
- #2,762 in Natural History (Books)
- #3,056 in Science & Math (Kindle Store)

Customer Reviews:
273 ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

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James P. Leonard

Who would have known?

Reviewed in the United States on November 15, 2018

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What a delightful book! The writing style is fun and engaging while the content is astounding in its breadth and depth. This is a book that doesn't make you feel stupid, but actually enlightened. It put a whole new light on just what biodiversity means from the largest animals to the microbiology that we require. You will delight in reading this book and will want to share it with your friends!

30 people found this helpful

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Joan Livingston-webber

Best book I’ve read this year

Reviewed in the United States on December 11, 2018

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I’m an eco-dispairist. Surprisingly, I felt actual optimism reading this book. It’s scientifically well shored up but chatty and warm as well. Dunn acknowledged several chapters that had been deleted. I wish they hadn’t been. Perhaps a sequel? I summarized the toxoplasmosis review for the waitress at my small town diner. We decided we’ve both had it, and she told me the next morning she’d dreamed about it. Yeah, it’s that kind of book. I’m ready to check out the rest of what he’s written though I suspect what he published for tenure and promotion may not be as reader friendly. I read the kindle edition. No problems there.

20 people found this helpful

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Kim Willis

I like science, what can I say?

Reviewed in the United States on January 16, 2019

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I like it when researchers can bring their results to people in an understandable and interesting way. If you are squeamish about germs this probably isn't the book for you. But for those who like to know about what lives with them it's a good read. The information about black mold and drywall, the yeasts on a bakers hands, the community that lives in your shower head, are all fascinating as well as all the other topics. I now have something to show my husband when he complains about the spider webs in the corners of my office and all the animals and plants I haul inside. Biodiversity is good. Healthy people live in homes with lots of it.

13 people found this helpful

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Donald

Shines Light on a Hidden World

Reviewed in the United States on January 20, 2020

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This book exposes the reader to ecology: the study of interactions among organisms and their biophysical environment. For me, beginning with van Leeuwenhoek and his microscope was appropriate. As a teen, I had tested my new microscope by squeezing a drop of puddle water onto a slide. The results were amazing: under my lens was an invisible world of darting, squirming, recoiling life.

Author Rob Dunn, a Professor of Applied Ecology, focuses on that life living with us. His team initially conducts an inventory of homes in Raleigh NC, employing a method called DNA Sequencing to identify bacteria types. The team finds different kinds of bacteria everywhere: we can’t get rid of them, and wouldn’t want to because most are beneficial.

The author’s studies and research continue, to examine mold in drywall, cultivation of yeasts, and baking contests where microbes on the bakers’ hands affect the flavor of their breads.

Dunn draws heavily from first-hand experience with his team’s work and his collaborations, which add strength to his findings. But some conclusions are based on thinly supported research such as a single student’s thesis. Sometimes, the author substitutes supposition for stating a fact.

Dunn addresses important ecological issues. He emphasizes the worrisome pace of bacteria in developing resistance to medicines faster than we are producing new treatments. He expresses concern about the use of chemicals that indiscriminately kill both harmful and harmless life. And he describes the application of “exploitive competition,” a strategy of using harmless organisms to outcompete and eliminate harmful ones.

Dunn strongly supports the benefits of biodiversity. He advises against attempting to create a near-sterile environment where we live, because developing a human response to “friendly” invaders stimulates our immune system to develop defenses against harmful ones.

The book suggests that this field is rife with study opportunities, but also thin in capable researchers and available funding. Discoveries such as Fleming’s penicillin were taken from Nature, and one gets a hint that more such discoveries are awaiting. But, the astronomical range of existing life forms presents a challenge in what to study. So, the field emphasizes selection of useful study areas.

This interesting book offers much to think about, but at times it seems over the top. While it elaborates on microscopic visitors in the International Space Station and speculates about fungi on Mars, other subjects such as beetles keeping ants as pets, or parasites intentionally causing schizophrenia in humans, seem too outré. Further at times, the reader must adapt to Dunn’s unexpectedly casual and humorous writing style.

I encountered a formatting problem seen in other books: on each right-side page in the book’s body, the header contains a CHAPTER TITLE. But in the Notes section in back, notes are organized by CHAPTER NUMBER. As a result, a reader looking up a note must first refer to the Table of Contents to reference chapter titles to chapter numbers.

3 people found this helpful

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Natural Tiara

Fun and Frightening All In One

Reviewed in the United States on March 23, 2020

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It's one of the best books I've read this year. It's definitely not for the squeamish. I'm an OCD clean person, but it did't bother me at all. It's just other organisms we have to live with.

I heard about the book on NPR last year and just had to procure it for myself. It sat in my pile for some time, but was not let down by any means when I finally picked it up. It's easy to read, but with a scientific bent. The biodiversity of the home is absolutely amazing. I have to admit, I do look at the water coming out of my shower in a whole new light. Very entertaining, as well as educational.

5 people found this helpful

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Marilyn Osborne

More than Meets the Eye

Reviewed in the United States on January 11, 2019

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There's a lot going on inside our homes in the way of unseen visitors! Not great to read before bedtime, the book does provide an eye-opening look at the benefits of spiders and other creatures seen and microscopic. A germaphobe of sorts, I am now feeling much better about our microbial world as a result of this book.

7 people found this helpful

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Darcy

Super Cool and Fascinating Book

Reviewed in the United States on June 17, 2021

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I have been reading this out loud to my son's, ages 9 and 11. We are loving it! I'm learning so much about the biome of our home, all things gross, interesting, exciting, appalling, and intriguing. Did you know that a heat-lovimg bacteria once only found in hot springs now lives in people's water heaters? Or that cave crickets have evolved to live exclusively in your basement? Or that the yeast we use take beer and wine came from the guts of wasps? Do you know how many types of creepy crawlies coexist with humans in our homes? Because I didn't know any of these things until I read this book. My kids and I have been inspired to be curious, to observe, and to keep track of our home ecosystem we never knew existed thanks to this book. 5 stars from this mom of future scientists!

One person found this helpful

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Julia

Our micro companions

Reviewed in the United States on September 6, 2020

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This book wakes me up to those invisible companions that live with us 24/7! Now I understand why sometimes I get infection despite being very clean. I have essentially washed away the good bugs that are protecting me and invited the bad ones to cause infection! At the same time, learning how microorganisms circulate around us specially through pets and the potential diseases these pets can bring to us make me wonder if some illnesses suffered by some people may have been caused by their own pets. Often the symptoms don't show till years later. It's worth reading. It wakes me up to our invisible companions, invited and uninvited ones.

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Top reviews from other countries

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An amateur

Beautiful presentation of wacky information

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 13, 2021

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A nice overview of the myriad bacterial species co-existing with us in and out of our homes. I now have to think of ways to increase the biodiversity of my microbiomes.

SMUDGE

Too much america.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 19, 2020

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Reports mainly about American houses and their bugs, dissapointing

FPC

Super Interesting

Reviewed in Canada on December 16, 2018

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Not always easy to read, but worth your time and effort. It is fascinating what exists in the world around us. It is also humbling to think that humans, despite what our egos tell us, are simply part of the eco system

Cliente Kindle

Alla scoperta della biodiversità nelle nostre case

Reviewed in Italy on May 14, 2019

Verified Purchase

Questo libro è scritto con un linguaggio semplice e scorrevole eppure è molto rigoroso scientificamente e istruttivo. Da leggere assolutamente!