"Extraordinary. . . . takes the reader into the overlap of medicine, ecology, and evolutionary biology to reveal an important domain of the human condition." —Edward O. Wilson, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Anthill and The Future of LifeWe evolved in a wilderness of parasites, mutualists, and pathogens, but we no longer see ourselves as being part of nature. In the name of progress and clean living, we scrub much of nature off our bodies and try...

Over the past century, our species has made unprecedented technological innovations with which we have sought to control nature. In A Natural History of the Future, biologist Rob Dunn argues that such efforts are futile. We may see ourselves as life's overlords, but we are instead at its mercy. In the evolution of antibiotic resistance, the power of natural selection to create biodiversity, and even the surprising life of the London Underground, Dunn finds laws of life that no hum...

**A "soulful tribute" (New York Times) that shows how rethinking our relationships with other species can help us reimagine the future of humankindA New York Times Notable Book of the Year**In the woodlands of sub-Saharan Africa, sometime deep in our species’ past, something strange happened: a bird called out, not to warn others of human presence, but to call attention to herself. Having found a beehive, that bird—a honeyguide—sought human aid to break in...

A natural history of the wilderness in our homes, from the microbes in our showers to the crickets in our basementsEven when the floors are sparkling clean and the house seems silent, our domestic domain is wild beyond imagination. In Never Home Alone, biologist Rob Dunn introduces us to the nearly 200,000 species living with us in our own homes, from the Egyptian meal moths in our cupboards and camel crickets in our basements to the lactobacillus...

Por muy apacible que parezca nuestro hogar, alberga un universo natural que trasciende todo lo imaginable. La vida abunda en el sótano, en el desván, bajo el entarimado del suelo y hasta en la alcachofa de la ducha: "¿Solo en casa?" revela la naturaleza absolutamente inesperada que albergan las viviendas humanas. En este libro Dunn nos presenta a los diminutos habitantes de nuestras casas para poner de manifiesto que en casi todos los casos nos benefician, y que intentar acabar con los org...

How rethinking our relationships with other species can help us reimagine the future of humankindIn the woodlands of sub-Saharan Africa, sometime deep in our species’ past, something strange happened: a bird called out, not to warn others of human presence, but to call attention to herself. Having found a beehive, that bird—a honeyguide—sought human aid to break in. The behavior can seem almost miraculous: How would a bird come to think that people could help her? ...

The secret history of our most vital organ: the human heart.The Man Who Touched His Own Heart tells the raucous, gory, mesmerizing story of the heart, from the first "explorers" who dug up cadavers and plumbed their hearts' chambers, through the first heart surgeries -- which had to be completed in three minutes before death arrived -- to heart transplants and the latest medical efforts to prolong our hearts' lives, almost defying nature in the process.

The bananas we eat today aren't your parents' bananas: We eat a recognizable, consistent breakfast fruit that was standardized in the 1960s from dozens into one basic banana. But because of that, the banana we love is dangerously susceptible to a pathogen that might wipe them out.That's the story of our food today: Modern science has brought us produce in perpetual abundance once-rare fruits are seemingly never out of season, and we breed and clone the hardiest, best-tasting variet...

Dieses Buch lässt einen das eigene Zuhause mit anderen Augen sehen.Selbst wenn die Böden blitzsauber sind und das Haus leer erscheint, sind unsere Häuser voller Leben. In Nie allein zu Haus stellt uns der Biologe Rob Dunn die fast 200.000 Arten vor, die bei uns zu Hause leben, von den ägyptischen Mehlmotten in unseren Schränken über die Kamelgrillen in unseren Kellern bis hin zum Laktobazillus, der auf unseren Küchenarbeitsplatten lebt. Während wir davon besessen sind, unsere Häus...

A leading ecologist argues that if humankind is to survive on a fragile planet, we must understand and obey its iron laws.Over the past century, our species has made unprecedented technological innovations with which we have sought to control nature. From river levees to enormous one-crop fields, we continue to try to reshape nature for our purposes - so much so it seems we may be in danger of destroying it.In A Natural History of the Future, biolo...

A natural history of the wilderness in our homes, from the microbes in our showers to the crickets in our basementsEven when the floors are sparkling clean and the house seems silent, our domestic domain is wild beyond imagination. In Never Home Alone, biologist Rob Dunn introduces us to the nearly 200,000 species living with us in our own homes, from the Egyptian meal moths in our cupboards and camel crickets in our basements to the lactobacillus...

Biologist Rob Dunn's Every Little Thing is the story of man's obsessive quest to catalog life, from nanobacteria to new monkeys. In the tradition of E. O. Wilson, this engaging and fascinating work of popular science follows humanity's unending quest to discover every living thing in our natural world—from the unimaginably small in the most inhospitable of places on earth to the unimaginably far away in the unexplored canals on Mars.