Microbiology: Diversity, Disease, and the Environment

by Abigail A. Salyers and Dixie D. Whitt

Book Overview

Microbiology: Diversity, Disease, and the Environment is an exciting new introductory level Microbiology text will serve the needs of lecturers and students in a wide variety of life science, health science, and applied science programs. The recurrent theme in this text is the delicate balance between microbes and humans, and how recent changes in that balance may bring about changes that have adverse effects, such as emerging infectious diseases...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1891786016
• ISBN13: 9781891786013
• Release Date: July 2000
• Publisher: Wiley
• Length: 608 Pages
• Weight: 3.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 8.4" x 11.3"

Customer Reviews

The most readible book I've ever read on the subject!

I've worked as a nurse for years, thus my roots in nursing school are very old. To keep myself in tune, I have historically reviewed biology and chemistry. When I found this book on microbiology--never my favorite subject in the old days--I decided I'd "force" myself to review. Never in my life have I been as surprised as I was when I discovered that "microbiology can be fun!" Salyers and Whitts' (both microbiologists of the PhD level) book "Microbiology: Diversity, Disease, and the Environment" is an amazing volume that details not only the basic health sciences information about "bugs" of various types, it gives a surprisingly complete and competent description of the evolution of the earth and its microbiota. The structure and design of microbes, and its change in response to historic challenges is presented in a coherent and enlightening manner. The coevolution of infectious organisms and mamalians, especially human ones, is also described, as are the effects of the relationships between vectors carrying the microbial life forms. Just the overview of the lineage of microbial life forms was enlightening. So much has been determined about the evolution of life at its beginning that entirely new kingdoms have been created and the tree of life thoroughly revamped in the process. I found that what I had learned about biology was now just a bare bones structure with many holes, large gaps and some outright errors. Most amazing to me was the recent questioning of the concept that eukaryota had evolved from a symbiotic relationship between an aerobic and an anaerobic organism. Though long resisted, the idea had become THE major theory of cellular evolution; it certainly made remarkable sense. Now, I guess, it too has been unseated, at least tentatively. The only complaint I had as I read the book was that certain key words were repeated ad infinitum in the text, which I found annoying until I realized I was starting to remember them even several chapters down the line. Believe me, that hadn't ever happened in the past. For a book of some 500 pages, it read relatively rapidly. Although I took longer to read this book than I might have another expository narrative, it was more because I took time between sittings to digest the information and fit it into what I already knew--and to consciously discard what was now determined to be "wrong" or out of date. The book has a very complete glossary for the reader, something that would make a good review for exams. While I did not attempt to answer the questions at the end of the chapters, I did find that the answers to them in the Appendix were very synoptic and would also make an excellent way of reviewing the material on a chapter by chapter basis. A very readable, informative and useful text. I will probably keep it and reread it just to find out how much I retained; something I rarely do with other books.

such a wonderful book!

Very helpful! A little biology background is helpful here, but this text explains things well and in good detail. It has even been enjoyable!

bio major

The book arrived in the right condition. However, I am a bio major and I needed the book quickly. It took a little long to finally get here but that may or may not have been this seller's fault. Thanks for the book though!! Good seller!