“If you have any interest in life beyond your own, you should read this book.”
—Paul R. Ehrlich, author of The Dominant Animal
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.
Review
“If you have any interest in life beyond your own, you should read this book...Between the covers of EVERY LIVING THING you’ll learn both about life’s amazing diversity and that process of their discovery. Savor this fascinating volume and then help to preserve life’s wonders.”
About the Author
Rob Dunn is an associate professor of ecology and evolution in the Department of Biological Sciences at North Carolina State University. The author of The Wild Life of Our Bodies and Every Living Thing , his writing has been published in National Geographic , Natural History , New Scientist , Scientific American , and Smithsonian. Dunn holds a PhD from the University of Connecticut and was a Fulbright Fellow. He lives in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Biologists and laypeople alike have repeatedly claimed victory over life. A thousand years ago we thought we knew almost everything, a hundred years ago, too. But even today, Rob Dunn argues, discoveries we can't yet imagine still await us. More is unknown than known, whether about our bodies or the bottom of the sea.
In a series of vivid portraits of scientists as interesting as the mysteries they chase, Dunn introduces the reader to breakthroughs that have changed the world and others that might still. With poetry and humor, Dunn reminds readers how tough and exhilarating it is to study the natural world, and why it matters.
--This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.
Review
"His writing is concise and entertaining. So entertaining that I found myself laughing out loud and following my husband around saying, "Listen to this!" over and over again as I read."--Internet Review of Books --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.
From the Inside Flap
Biologists and laypeople alike have repeatedly claimed victory over life. A thousand years ago we thought we knew almost everything, a hundred years ago, too. But even today, Rob Dunn argues, discoveries we can't yet imagine still await us. More is unknown than known, whether about our bodies or the bottom of the sea.
In a series of vivid portraits of scientists as interesting as the mysteries they chase, Dunn introduces the reader to breakthroughs that have changed the world and others that might still. With poetry and humor, Dunn reminds readers how tough and exhilarating it is to study the natural world, and why it matters.
--Paul R. Ehrlich, author of THE DOMINANT ANIMAL: HUMAN EVOLUTION AND THE ENVIRONMENT --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.
Description:
“If you have any interest in life beyond your own, you should read this book.”
—Paul R. Ehrlich, author of The Dominant Animal
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.
Review
“If you have any interest in life beyond your own, you should read this book...Between the covers of EVERY LIVING THING you’ll learn both about life’s amazing diversity and that process of their discovery. Savor this fascinating volume and then help to preserve life’s wonders.”
About the Author
Rob Dunn is an associate professor of ecology and evolution in the Department of Biological Sciences at North Carolina State University. The author of The Wild Life of Our Bodies and Every Living Thing , his writing has been published in National Geographic , Natural History , New Scientist , Scientific American , and Smithsonian. Dunn holds a PhD from the University of Connecticut and was a Fulbright Fellow. He lives in Raleigh, North Carolina.
--This text refers to the audioCD edition.
From Publishers Weekly
Dunn, a biologist at North Carolina State University, does an admirable job of exploring the human drive to find and understand the manifold forms of life that surround them. With his light and enjoyable style, he also provides fascinating character sketches of some of the scientists (often obsessive, usually brilliant, occasionally half-mad) who made the most important discoveries, with enough scientific context for readers to understand their significance. Dunn ranges from Antoine van Leeuwenhoek's amazing microscopic discoveries in the scientific backwater of 17th-century Delft to a major 20th-century undertaking to explore life near deep sea vents where the ocean floor is expanding. But Dunn has a deeper message: life is more diverse and less like us than we had imagined. Indeed, he says, humans are far from central in the story of life's evolution on Earth; most life is microscopic, living in and deeply below the soil and likely comprising at least half of the planet's biomass. Finally, Dunn writes about scientific hubris: virtually every scientific prediction about conditions limiting life have been proven incorrect. (Jan.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.
From the Back Cover
Biologists and laypeople alike have repeatedly claimed victory over life. A thousand years ago we thought we knew almost everything, a hundred years ago, too. But even today, Rob Dunn argues, discoveries we can't yet imagine still await us. More is unknown than known, whether about our bodies or the bottom of the sea.
In a series of vivid portraits of scientists as interesting as the mysteries they chase, Dunn introduces the reader to breakthroughs that have changed the world and others that might still. With poetry and humor, Dunn reminds readers how tough and exhilarating it is to study the natural world, and why it matters.
--This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.
Review
"His writing is concise and entertaining. So entertaining that I found myself laughing out loud and following my husband around saying, "Listen to this!" over and over again as I read."--Internet Review of Books --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.
From the Inside Flap
Biologists and laypeople alike have repeatedly claimed victory over life. A thousand years ago we thought we knew almost everything, a hundred years ago, too. But even today, Rob Dunn argues, discoveries we can't yet imagine still await us. More is unknown than known, whether about our bodies or the bottom of the sea.
In a series of vivid portraits of scientists as interesting as the mysteries they chase, Dunn introduces the reader to breakthroughs that have changed the world and others that might still. With poetry and humor, Dunn reminds readers how tough and exhilarating it is to study the natural world, and why it matters.
--Paul R. Ehrlich, author of THE DOMINANT ANIMAL: HUMAN EVOLUTION AND THE ENVIRONMENT --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.