What do you get when you combine Gaia Theory, the idea of a biosphere as a single ecosystem, and microbiology together?
It’s not a joke. The answer is Microcosmos and it’s a history of 4 billion years of microbial evolution which resulted in the creation of every living thing around us.
Why We Love Microcosmos
Lynn Margulis is, of course, one of the people who originally conceived of the Gaia Theory and her outstanding knowledge of both this subject and microbiology gives this work a powerful edge.
Not only does this book provide a blueprint for our understanding of life on Earth today, but it also shows, perhaps, how we can influence our own survival by manipulating the blueprint in future.
Most of all, it illustrates how all life is connected and the interdependence of all things on each other.
Final Thoughts On Microcosmos
You don’t need to be a microbiologist to read Microcosmos which is entertaining and accessible and deeply interesting.
In fact, we’d be happy to recommend it to anyone that wanted to better understand their relationship with the planet.
Lynn and Dorion have written several other fascinating books too including Symbiotic Planet, Acquiring Genomes and What is Life? Why not take a look at them too?
You can grab a copy online here.