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I Contain Multitudes

The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life

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I Contain Multitudes

By: Ed Yong
Narrated by: Charlie Anson
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About this listen

Your body is teeming with tens of trillions of microbes. It's an entire world, a colony full of life. In other words, you contain multitudes. These microscopic companions sculpt our organs, protect us from diseases, guide our behaviour and bombard us with their genes. They also hold the key to understanding all life on earth.

In I Contain Multitudes, Ed Yong opens our eyes and invites us to marvel at ourselves and other animals in a new light, less as individuals and more as thriving ecosystems. We learn the invisible and wondrous science behind the corals that construct mighty reefs and the squid that create their own light shows. We see how bacteria can alter our response to cancer-fighting drugs, tune our immune system, influence our evolution and even modify our genetic make-up. And we meet the scientists who are manipulating these microscopic partners to our advantage.

In a million tiny ways, I Contain Multitudes will radically change how you think about the natural world - and how you see yourself.

©2016 Ed Yong (P)2016 Random House AudioBooks
Animals Biological Sciences Biology Physics Genetics Thought-Provoking Bacteria Physiology
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What listeners say about I Contain Multitudes

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Amazing

Brilliant narration and wonderfully insightful, challenging many theories, beliefs and practices. If you want to know the difference between fact and marketing hype this is a must listen.

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Totally amazing!

I'm about to start listening to it again. too many good bits that I need to hear again. I'll probably end up buying the book.

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Superbly woven stories that change our perspective

I now cannot see the world without seeing the microscopic world of microbes all around us.

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Science and Nature are far more fascinating than fiction

Sometimes you pick up a book and think "this looks interesting" and it turns out to be more than interesting.

The reading here tends to flow from chapter to chapter so at times it jars when you realise that a new subject had been started between two sentences that flow together. The content however is wonderful.

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Easy listening

From a students point of view this book is very helpful and insightful.
From a general interest point of view, it is fascinating.

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Microbes all around us

The microbiome is described in fascinating detail, across species & inside us humans too. A brilliant, gripping tale of a world within a world & the cutting edge discoveries that will take medicine in a whole new & unexpected direction. Totally enthralling. I’m going to read it again very soon as there is so much interesting detail to take in.

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Fascinating, important look into microbes

This is complex, I'm not going to lie. At times some of the science went over my head as I wasn't concentrating. However, the idea that microbes live on all surfaces and beings like a planet and have such an important role in creating and even treating diseases is fascinating.

Ed Yong opens our eyes and invites us to marvel at ourselves and other animals in a new light, less as individuals and more as thriving ecosystems. We learn the invisible and wondrous science behind the corals that construct mighty reefs and the squid that create their own light shows. We see how bacteria can alter our response to cancer-fighting drugs, tune our immune system, influence our evolution, and even modify our genetic make-up. And we meet the scientists who are manipulating these microscopic partners to our advantage. Great book for science nerds like me.

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Great but distracting edits

Really interesting book and well eat but some very distracting edits throughout. Just a minor niggle really but I haven't come across this on other books before.

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I love microbes!

A teacher recommended this book as some extra reading I could to around the subject of biology and as it turned out, I have loved it. I have learned microbes have a far greater influence over our world then I ever could have imagined. I Would recommend to anyone interested in biology - you will be surprised how microbiology connects to seemingly every other area of biology.

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Makes you look at the world in a different way

Really good introduction to the importance of microorganisms in the ecology of life on earth, and the implications for humans.

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