Microcosmos: Four Billion Years of Microbial Evolution (Paperback)

Microcosmos: Four Billion Years of Microbial Evolution By Lynn Margulis, Dorion Sagan, Lewis Thomas (Foreword by) Cover Image

Microcosmos: Four Billion Years of Microbial Evolution (Paperback)

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"Microcosmos is nothing less than the saga of the life of the planet. Lynn Margulis and Dorion Sagan have put it all together, literally, in this extraordinary book, which is unlike any treatment of evolution for a general readership that I have encountered before. A fascinating account that we humans should be studying now for clues to our own survival."—From the Foreword by Dr. Lewis Thomas

Microcosmos brings together the remarkable discoveries of microbiology in the later decades of the 20th century and the pioneering research of Dr. Margulis to create a vivid new picture of the world that is crucial to our understanding of the future of the planet. Addressed to general readers, the book provides a beautifully written view of evolution as a process based on interdependency and their interconnectedness of all life on the planet.
Lynn Margulis (1957-2011) was Distinguished University Professor of Geosciences at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and and a National Medal of Science recipient. Dorion Sagan has written and co-authored books on culture, evolution, and the history and philosophy of science, including Biospheres
Product Details ISBN: 9780520210646
ISBN-10: 0520210646
Publisher: University of California Press
Publication Date: May 29th, 1997
Pages: 304
Language: English
"A luminous prose style. . . . Clear, evocative, and, at its best, dense with realities rather than concepts or opinions, [Microcosmos] grips the serious reader in a way that transcends both science and science journalism."
— New York Times Book Review

"Microcosmos is a book for all to read. Although the ideas expressed with such clarity and enthusiasm in this enthralling volume are soundly based on current scientific research they are couched in a language that anyone with a smattering of biology can easily grasp. . . . Microcosmos is a book packed with information and fascinating detail, but all of it to the purpose of demonstrating how life forms are interwoven with each other." 
— The Ecologist

"A fascinating, engrossing, superbly written account. . . . Makes the story of evolution—including very recent findings—accessible."
— Los Angeles Times

"A stunning, complex chronicle . . . proposing that only an understanding of the microcosm from which life sprang can make possible our ultimate leap beyond Earth into a human-devised supercosm." 
— Publishers Weekly

"First published in 1986, Microcosmos is already regarded as a seminal book in its field." 
— Hartford Courant