Book completed

[eve_prime]

The Hidden Half of Nature: The Microbial Roots of Life and Health, by David R. Montgomery and Anne Bikle. I saw Dave Montgomery on a PBS show about the geology of North America and learned that he had written a book about soil science, which our local library happened to have. The first few chapters are quite interesting - explaining about soil fertility and the microbiomes that help plants thrive. Then the book takes a surprising shift, as Anne tells her story of how her recovery from cancer involved learning a whole lot about nutrition - which of course turns out to be intimately related to microbes, gut health, and soil health too. Even though the explanations of the biology get fairly complicated, the authors are very good at using everyday-world analogies that make the material more accessible without talking down to the reader. The ongoing stories of the scientists who discovered various aspects of the hidden world of bacteria - of which only a small fraction are harmful - was very revealing. The fertilizer and pesticide industries had vested interests in downplaying the discoveries about what is really involved in soil health - and maintaining that health over time. After reading this book, I'm more motivated to eat a larger variety of green vegetables more often.