Contents

Acknowledgments

About the Author

Introduction

Chapter 1. Why the world needs bacteria

Tricks in bacterial survival

Bacterial communities

Under the microscope

The size of life

The bacteria of the human body

The origins of our bacteria

One planet

Chapter 2. Bacteria in history

The ancients

The legacy of bacterial pathogens

The plague

Microbiologists save the day

Unheralded heroes of bacteriology

On the front

Chapter 3. “Humans defeat germs!” (but not for long)

What is an antibiotic?

Inventing drugs is like making sausage

Mutant wars

Bacteria share their DNA

The opportunists

Chapter 4. Bacteria in popular culture

Bacteria and art

Bacteria in the performing arts

Friends and enemies

Do bacteria devour art?

Chapter 5. An entire industry from a single cell

E. coli

The power of cloning

A chain reaction

Bacteria on the street

Anthrax

Why we will always need bacteria

Chapter 6. The invisible universe

Versatility begets diversity

Cyanobacteria

Bacterial protein factories

How to build an ecosystem

Feedback and ecosystem maintenance

Macrobiology

Chapter 7. Climate, bacteria, and a barrel of oil

The story of oil

Bacteria power

How is a cow like a cockroach?

Microscopic power plants

The waste problem

Bacteria on Mars

Shaping the planet

Epilogue: How microbiologists grow bacteria

Serial dilution

Counting bacteria

Logarithms

Anaerobic microbiology

Aseptic technique

Appendix: Resources for learning more about bacteria

Internet resources on bacteria

Book resources on bacteria

Classic reading on bacteria

Bacteria rule references

Index

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