The Hidden Half of Nature: The Microbial Roots of Life and Health - Softcover

"A beautifully synthesized scientific memoir." -- Barbara Kiser - Nature "A must-read for avid gardeners, those interested in bolstering our precarious food supply, or anyone remotely concerned about their health and the soil under their feet." -- Kirkus Reviews "The Hidden Half of Nature offers a wonderfully fresh and exquisitely informed approach that could change how we relate to ourselves, our diets, our gardens and our world." -- Tim McNulty - Seattle Times "Montgomery and Bikle argue that when we farm and when we eat, we're feeding a diverse community of microorganisms. This book is sure to become a game-changing guide to the future of good food and healthy landscapes." -- Dan Barber, chef and author of The Third Plate "[A] transformative read." -- Tom Philpott - Mother Jones "The Hidden Half of Nature draws a straight line from the microbes that live in healthy soil to those that live in healthy guts, skillfully blending the personal and the scientific. This is a must-read for anyone concerned with their own health." -- Amy Stewart, author of The Drunken Botanist "Amazingly detailed and well-researched. ... [The Hidden Half of Nature] lays out the beautiful connection between the microbial garden in our bodies and the microbial garden in the Earth." -- Sally Peterson - Oregon Live "The Hidden Half of Nature reads like a fast-paced novel but tells the true story of the workings of soils, and even our own bodies." -- Neil Shubin, author of The Universe Within "One of the year's best books on gardens and health." -- Jim McCausland - Sunset Magazine

Our world is built on an invisible one we are barely beginning to understand. In The Hidden Half of Nature, geologist David R. Montgomery and biologist Anne Bikle argue that Earth's smallest creatures-microbes-could fundamentally change how we grow food, what we eat and how we practise medicine. The Hidden Half of Nature shares Montgomery and Bikle's efforts to turn a barren patch of ground into a flourishing garden, and Bikle's struggle with cancer. Taking readers deep into the science and history of agriculture and immunology, they show that microbes can provide powerful solutions to the problems plaguing modern agriculture as well as our own bodies. A spellbinding story, The Hidden Half of Nature reveals how we can restore fertility to the land and defeat chronic diseases.