Living in a Microbial World
- Edition:
- 1st
- Author(s):
- Bruce Hofkin
- ISBN:
- 9780815341758
- Format:
- Paperback
- Publication Date:
- April 12, 2010
- Content Details:
- 496 pages | 413 illustrations
- Language:
- English
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Also of Interest
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About the Book
Book Summary
Living in a Microbial World is a textbook written for students taking a general microbiology or microbiology-themed course for non-science majors. It teaches the essential concepts of microbiology through practical examples and a conversational writing style intended to make the material accessible to a wide audience.
In order to make the science relevant to students, every chapter of the book contains a series of cases intended to motivate learning the microbiology concepts. The cases present microbiology in the news, in history, in literature, and in scenarios of everyday life. Each case ends with several questions intended to pique student interest, and those questions are answered in the next section of the chapter.
By clearly and succinctly explaining the fundamentals of microbiology through practical examples, the book provides a scientific framework through which students can understand critical issues about microorganisms and disease that they will encounter throughout their lives. They will learn the role that microorganisms play not only in our health but also in ecosystem processes, our diet, industrial production, and human history. Topics that we hear about every day, from global warming to energy independence to bioterrorism, all have a microbial angle. This text is designed to provide the reader with the background needed to understand and discuss such topics with a genuine understanding rooted in science.
Supplements:
- Online Glossary.
- Online Student Flash Cards.
- Animations and videos.
Features
- The conversational writing style of Living in a Microbial World makes the text accessible and enjoyable for a non-majors audience.
- The artwork is conceptual and appealing.
- Cases are integrated throughout the text to connect the science to the social world.
- Concept Questions are provided at the end of each chapter to help students think carefully about what they have learned and apply that knowledge to new situations.
- The text is streamlined to 16 chapters, and is ideal for a one-semester course.
- Fundamental topics, such as Central Dogma and metabolism, have special introductory sections and figures to provide context to the molecular details of these processes.
- An entire chapter is devoted to microbial evolution, and evolutionary concepts are reinforced throughout the text.
- The immunology chapter is unique to this book, and offers a conceptual overview of the immune response, explained through a series of cases that explore what happens to different passengers exposed to the same pathogen on an airplane.
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Table of Contents
1. Living in a Microbial World
2. The Chemistry of Life
3. The Cell: Where Life Begins
4. A Field Guide to the Microorganisms
5. The Microbiology of History and the History of Microbiology
6. Microbial Genetics
7. Metabolism and Growth
8. Microbial Evolution: The Origin and Diversity of Life
9. An Ecologist’s Guide to Microbiology
10. The Nature of Disease: A Pathogen’s Perspective
11. Host Defense
12. Control of Microbial Growth
13. Epidemiology: Who, What, When, Where, and Why?
14. The Future Is Here: Microorganisms and Biotechnology
15. Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner: Microorganisms and Food
16. Better Living With Microorganisms: Industrial and Applied Microbiology -
Instructor Resources
Instructor ResourcesTo access Instructor Resources please go to www.garlandscience.com/lmw
Media Guide
Documents that overview the media resources available for instructors and students who use Living in a Microbial World. In addition to reviewing each media item, it contains the transcripts of the voice-over narration for the movies found on the Website.
Art of Living in a Microbial World
Artwork available in PowerPoint and JPEG. The PowerPoint slides can be customized for your lectures.
Movies for Download
The movies for Living in a Microbial World are available here for download. The movies can be easily imported into PowerPoint presentations and are available in two handy formats: WMV and QuickTime. The WMV versions are suitable for importing movies into PowerPoint for Windows®. The QuickTime versions are suitable for importing the movies into PowerPoint for Macintosh. -
Student Resources
Student ResourcesTo access Student Resources please go to www.garlandscience.com/lmw
Movies
These movies will help you understand the concepts in the book. The scripts for the movies are available in PDF format.
Quizzes
These quizzes will help you test your knowledge of the important concepts from each chapter of the book.
Flashcards
Available for each chapter, these will help you master the key vocabulary.
Glossary
The entire glossary from the book is available online and is searchable. -
E-book
E-bookLiving in a Microbial World is now available in the US and Canada as a downloadable e-book from VitalSource.
VitalBook technology enables students to:
• Search the text
• Add highlights and notes, and share them
• Download to multiple devices, including iPadsThe various e-book options for Living in a Microbial World enable students to save significantly over the printed version.
• eBook purchase: $104.00 (30% off list price)
• 1 year e-rental: $89.00 (40% off list price)
• 180 day e-rental: $74.00 (50% off list price)
• Individual chapters: $9.00 eachTo purchase or rent the e-book at the VitalSource store go to: http://store.vitalsource.com/show/978-1-1368-4400-3
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Downloads
Samples & DownloadsDownload the Detailed Table of Contents from the book.
Click on any of the links below to download a printable PDF of a sample chapter.
Chapter 4: A Field Guide to Microorganisms
