I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life

Ed Yong

Random House, Sep 1, 2016 - Science - 368 pages

SHORTLISTED FOR THE WELLCOME BOOK PRIZE 2017
SHORTLISTED FOR THE ROYAL SOCIETY SCIENCE BOOK PRIZE 2017
THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

Your body is teeming with tens of trillions of microbes. It’s an entire world, a colony full of life.

In other words, you contain multitudes.

They sculpt our organs, protect us from diseases, guide our behaviour, and bombard us with their genes. They also hold the key to understanding all life on earth.

In I Contain Multitudes, Ed Yong opens our eyes and invites us to marvel at ourselves and other animals in a new light, less as individuals and more as thriving ecosystems.

You'll never think about your mind, body or preferences in the same way again.

'Super-interesting... He just keeps imparting one surprising, fascinating insight after the next. I Contain Multitudes is science journalism at its best' Bill Gates

What people are saying

LibraryThing Review

User Review  - snash - LibraryThing

A very readable summary of the most recent studies into the interactions of microbes with the rest of life illustrating their ubiquitous nature, often benefitting, sometimes harming.

LibraryThing Review

User Review  - addunn3 - LibraryThing

We are a world in ourselves. This is an amazing look at the world of life that keeps our bodies living.

About the author

Ed Yong is an award-winning science writer who reports for The Atlantic. His blog, Not Exactly Rocket Science, is hosted by National Geographic, and his work has also appeared in Wired, the New York Times, Nature, the BBC, New Scientist, Scientific American, the Guardian, The Times and more. He lives in London.

You can find him on twitter @edyong209 and sign up to his weekly newsletter, The Ed's Up, on http://tinyletter.com/edyong209/.

Bibliographic information

• Title: I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life
• Author: Ed Yong
• Publisher: Random House, 2016
• ISBN: 1473520185, 9781473520189
• Length: 368 pages
• Subjects: Science / General; Science / Life Sciences / Biology; Science / Life Sciences / General; Science / Life Sciences / Human Anatomy & Physiology; Science / Life Sciences / Microbiology; Science / Life Sciences / Zoology / General