Inspired by a 2009 colloquium on microbial evolution convened at the Galapagos Islands, Microbes and Evolution continues to celebrate Charles Darwin and his landmark book On the Origin of Species. Through this collection of 40 first-person essays written by microbiologists with a passion for evolutionary biology, you'll come to understand how their thinking and career paths in science were influenced by Darwin's seminal work.
The essays in Microbes and Evolution explore how the evidence of microbial evolution deeply and personally affected each scientist. Prepare to be surprised and delighted with their views on the importance of evolutionary principles in the study of a variety of aspects of life science, from taxonomy, speciation, adaptation, social structure, and symbiosis to antibiotic resistance, genetics and genomics.
"A breathtaking range of topics are woven together under a common theme that takes the reader from the origin of microbial life to its diversity, from mutualism and competition to efforts to recapitulate evolution, from the diversity of bacterial viruses to 'the smallest and most abundant microorganism in the ocean.'"
- Richard Losick, Maria Moors Cabot Professor, Harvard University
"This book is an excellent collection of articles and should be read by everyone working with bacteria (and others as well) or thinking of doing so."
- Charles Yanofsky, Professor Emeritus, Department of Biology, Stanford University
"To celebrate the anniversary of both Darwin's birth and the publication of On the Origin of Species, a select group of microbiologists met in the Galapagos Islands, bent on reconciling modern microbiology with classical evolutionary theory. Their essays, born of this historic gathering, appear here, each written in an erudite yet highly personal style. Consequently, this book is not only highly informative, but a great deal of fun to read. About half of them had something to say about Darwin; the other half, what Darwin would have said about them."
- Moselio Schaechter, Professor Emeritus, Tufts University School of Medicine; Adjunct Professor Emeritus, Department of Biology, San Diego State University; and, Visiting Scholar, University of California at San Diego