A Field Guide to Bacteria (Comstock Book)

The huge bacterial flora is well covered and the author's grasp of the multitudinous habitats where bacteria live and thrive, sometimes under the most extreme conditions, is impressive. Everything from sulfur bacteria, halophytes and causes of desert varnish to internal symbionts and more are covered in fascinating detail. Dyer has opened up a whole new way of looking at the world that give us a more accurate view of the pervasiveness of the tiny. Not all bacteria are out to get us by any means and this book provides a much needed balance to the "killer bacteria" usually featured in popular literature.

A necessary book for amateur and even professional microbiologists, it will also, I think, provide a good read for anyone interested in the natural world as it really is.


Excellent even for professional microbiologists   February 17, 2004
Jonathan Badger (Washington, DC United States)
20 out of 20 found this review helpful

While this book is intended for the general public, and is certainly accessible to those without microbiological training, don't pass it up even if you have microbiological training -- in many ways it is a condensed version of Balows' _The Prokaryotes_, and likewise quite useful for reminding oneself what obscure groups of bacteria do "for a living".

Of course, Dyer's book is a lighter, more amusing read than Balows', and chock full of the sort of anecdote that is fun to slip into a lecture -- such as the explanation of Charles Dickens' cryptic reference to a "bad lobster in a dark cellar" in _The Christmas Carol_, and the fact that the oddly named cyanobacterium _Nostoc_ was named by the alchemist Paracelsus!

In addition, I was pleasantly surprised that despite identifying herself on the very first page as a former student of Lynn Margulis, Dyer doesn't try to defend her mentor's continued rejection of the discoveries of molecular phylogeny, but even goes so far as to praise Woese and Sogin by name! It is refreshing to finally see a work of popular science that acknowledges how the pioneers of molecular phylogeny have changed microbiology over the last couple decades.


Brilliant concept, great execution, fun book   June 12, 2003
24 out of 24 found this review helpful

This fun and informative book starts with the brilliant idea of identifying bacteria by their MACROscopic field marks (colors, smells, effects) rather than by microscope. You would never believe how many bacteria one can identify by "field marks" alone, and readers will be surprised at how much fun the identification and discussion of bacteria can be. The author's execution of the guide -- her excellent and enthusiastic writing style and her choices of which bacteria to discuss -- makes this the rare field guide that one can read from cover to cover. The book discusses everything from bacteria in hot springs to those that make cheese or pickles, to those in animal intestines. There are beautiful (yes, beautiful) color plates, great suggested experiments, and guides to finding different kinds of bacteria. The author makes the subject interesting, funny and captivating -- and she uses exclamation points without irony! All in all an excellent book -- don't be scared off by the title; any nature- or science-lover you know will thoroughly enjoy it.