Author: KARLEN, ARNO
Title: The Biography of a Germ
Description: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. 2000. (ISBN: 9780575066052). Hardcover. The philosopher Wittgenstein might say that if a microbe could talk we couldn't understand it, but psychoanalyst and science writer Arno Karlenhas done his best to listen and translate in Biography of a Germ. This lovely, funny, and even endearing portrait of Borrelia burgdorferi (or Bb), the screwy bacterium that causes Lyme disease, would charm even a terminal mysophobe like Howard Hughes. Unfortunately, Karlen has to justify his topic at greater length than most biographers, but his reasoning is nearly lyrical in its enthusiasm for the microscopic. Following the genealogy of the germ back to our common ancestor (gulp) and beyond, the author finds a freshness in what we too often see as dry taxonomy and genetics. From there he watches Bb as it makes its way through the circulation superhighways of deer, ticks, and hikers, each as top on its complex life cycle. We elbowed our way into Bb's story comparatively recently, ironically hurting ourselves as we renewed our appreciation of and commitment to wilderness areas. As we destroyed, and then created, habitat for deer, we ended up inviting Bb to run amok in our bodies. Karlen captures the beauty and terror of this bizarre chain of events perfectly, providing new insights into our relationship with our environment. Much like its cousins that live harmlessly in our bloodstream, eyelashes, and gut, this tick-borne germ will eventually evolve a truce with us to protect its reproduction; unfortunately for current and future sufferers of Lyme disease, we're quite a few generations away from that happy time. While we're waiting, we can read Biography of a Germ to learn more about our new tenants and why we should care about them. Hardback with dustjacket - 2000 - good condition, 0-575-06605-9 - - used books, secondhand books, for sale, out of print books, hard to find books, second-hand books, college books, student books, nonfiction, first editions, exlibrary books sold, signed copies, non-fiction books delivered world wide. Isbn 0575066059. Used: Acceptable.

Keywords: 9780575066052


See more books from our catalog: Biography