Overview

Prepare to set aside what you think you know about yourself and microbes. The Hidden Half of Nature reveals why good health-for people and for plants-depends on Earth's smallest creatures. Restoring life to their barren yard and recovering from a health crisis, David R. Montgomery and Anne Biklé discover astounding parallels between the botanical world and our own bodies. From garden to gut, they show why cultivating beneficial microbiomes holds the key to transforming agriculture and medicine.

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9780393353372

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Reviews

A beautifully synthesized scientific memoir. -- Barbara Kiser - Nature A must-read for avid gardeners, those interested in bolstering our precarious food supply, or anyone remotely concerned about their health and the soil under their feet. -- Kirkus Reviews The Hidden Half of Nature offers a wonderfully fresh and exquisitely informed approach that could change how we relate to ourselves, our diets, our gardens and our world. -- Tim McNulty - Seattle Times Montgomery and Bikle argue that when we farm and when we eat, we're feeding a diverse community of microorganisms. This book is sure to become a game-changing guide to the future of good food and healthy landscapes. -- Dan Barber, chef and author of The Third Plate [A] transformative read. -- Tom Philpott - Mother Jones The Hidden Half of Nature draws a straight line from the microbes that live in healthy soil to those that live in healthy guts, skillfully blending the personal and the scientific. This is a must-read for anyone concerned with their own health. -- Amy Stewart, author of The Drunken Botanist Amazingly detailed and well-researched. ... [The Hidden Half of Nature] lays out the beautiful connection between the microbial garden in our bodies and the microbial garden in the Earth. -- Sally Peterson - Oregon Live The Hidden Half of Nature reads like a fast-paced novel but tells the true story of the workings of soils, and even our own bodies. -- Neil Shubin, author of The Universe Within One of the year's best books on gardens and health. -- Jim McCausland - Sunset Magazine

"""A beautifully synthesized scientific memoir."" -- Barbara Kiser - Nature ""A must-read for avid gardeners, those interested in bolstering our precarious food supply, or anyone remotely concerned about their health and the soil under their feet."" -- Kirkus Reviews ""The Hidden Half of Nature offers a wonderfully fresh and exquisitely informed approach that could change how we relate to ourselves, our diets, our gardens and our world."" -- Tim McNulty - Seattle Times ""Montgomery and Bikle argue that when we farm and when we eat, we're feeding a diverse community of microorganisms. This book is sure to become a game-changing guide to the future of good food and healthy landscapes."" -- Dan Barber, chef and author of The Third Plate ""[A] transformative read."" -- Tom Philpott - Mother Jones ""The Hidden Half of Nature draws a straight line from the microbes that live in healthy soil to those that live in healthy guts, skillfully blending the personal and the scientific. This is a must-read for anyone concerned with their own health."" -- Amy Stewart, author of The Drunken Botanist ""Amazingly detailed and well-researched. ... [The Hidden Half of Nature] lays out the beautiful connection between the microbial garden in our bodies and the microbial garden in the Earth."" -- Sally Peterson - Oregon Live ""The Hidden Half of Nature reads like a fast-paced novel but tells the true story of the workings of soils, and even our own bodies."" -- Neil Shubin, author of The Universe Within ""One of the year's best books on gardens and health."" -- Jim McCausland - Sunset Magazine"

Author Information

David R. Montgomery is a professor at the University of Washington and a 2008 MacArthur Fellow. Anne Biklé is a biologist and environmental planner. Her career spans the fields of environmental stewardship, habitat restoration, and public health. The Hidden Half of Nature is her first book.

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