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cutcamera's review
4.0
A wonderful look into the hidden microbiome and how important microbes are to overall health. I listened to the audiobook and wish I had read a physical copy because there were lots of sections I would have liked to have highlighted for future reference.
eve_prime's review
4.5
I saw Dave Montgomery on a PBS show about the geology of North America and learned that he had written a book about soil science, which our local library happened to have. The first few chapters are quite interesting - explaining about soil fertility and the microbiomes that help plants thrive. Then the book takes a surprising shift, as Anne tells her story of how her recovery from cancer involved learning a whole lot about nutrition - which of course turns out to be intimately related to microbes, gut health, and soil health too. Even though the explanations of the biology get fairly complicated, the authors are very good at using everyday-world analogies that make the material more accessible without talking down to the reader. The ongoing stories of the scientists who discovered various aspects of the hidden world of bacteria - of which only a small fraction are harmful - was very revealing. The fertilizer and pesticide industries had vested interests in downplaying the discoveries about what is really involved in soil health - and maintaining that health over time. After reading this book, I'm more motivated to eat a larger variety of green vegetables more often.
jailala's review
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
Excellent work on microbial biology for the lay-person!
aoosterwyk's review against another edition
5.0
A very important book about the importance of soil health with analogous chapters to the gut biome. Really informative and understandable, would be good for a HS science read.
debr's review against another edition
4.0
This is an absolutely fascinating book that marries human and environmental microbial ecology and looks at the roots of health for our bodies and the planet. The authors build a fascinating story about how many fields have discovered microbial ecology via agricultural sciences and immunology. My only argument it's this book is that I feel as though it could have used a little more editing in the middle of the book. Some of the immunological detail and historical trivia got a bit drawn out and overwrought for my taste - the authors could have lost about 50 pages without losing much of the important lessons contained here.
emilieonthemove's review
5.0
So we hear we should eat organic, take probiotics, eat less meat, eat our vegetables... but why and how exactly will this improve our health? Isn't it all just another a trend? And why is organic farming and no-tillage agriculture better than chemical fertilizers? And why is "conventional" farming so entrenched in our culture?
If you've ever wondered about any of questions, this book is for you. It is definitely dense for non-biologists, like myself, but fascinating. The way the book is put together keeps it engaging and moving forward; the authors combine their personal experiences with gardening and cancer to lay the groundwork for their research. Then, they provide ample information on the history of different scientific discoveries and how they've shaped prevailing schools of thought in agriculture and medicine over the past several centuries. These history lessons are interspersed with biology lessons relevant to agriculture and human health, particularly related to our immune and digestive systems. All together, the book is an intricately woven tale revealing how soil's microbiology and a plant's root system mirror what we eat and how our body processes it. Mind. Blown.
If you've ever wondered about any of questions, this book is for you. It is definitely dense for non-biologists, like myself, but fascinating. The way the book is put together keeps it engaging and moving forward; the authors combine their personal experiences with gardening and cancer to lay the groundwork for their research. Then, they provide ample information on the history of different scientific discoveries and how they've shaped prevailing schools of thought in agriculture and medicine over the past several centuries. These history lessons are interspersed with biology lessons relevant to agriculture and human health, particularly related to our immune and digestive systems. All together, the book is an intricately woven tale revealing how soil's microbiology and a plant's root system mirror what we eat and how our body processes it. Mind. Blown.
hodes4me's review against another edition
challenging
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
4.25
Incredibly informative, but they could have trimmed some of the fat