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The Secret Life of Germs: What They Are, Why We Need Them, and How We Can Protect Ourselves Against Them
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By Philip M. Tierno Jr PhD
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 (20 Reviews)
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$19.99
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Availability:
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Available for immediate delivery.
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Publisher:
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Atria Books
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Edition:
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Reprint
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Published:
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January 6, 2004 |
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Binding:
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Paperback
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They're on everything we touch, eat, and breathe in — on every inch of skin. And despite the advances of science, germs are challenging medicine in ways that were unimaginable ten years ago. No wonder the world is up in arms — and using antibacterial soaps. From the common cold, E. coli, and Lyme disease to encephalitis, mad cow disease, and flesh-eating bacteria, Tierno takes readers on a historical survey of the microscopic world. Rebuffing scare tactics behind recent "germ events" Tierno explains how the recycling of matter is the key to life. Yes, he'll tell you why it's a good idea to clean children's toys, why those fluffy towels may not be so clean, and why you never want to buy a second-hand mattress, but he also reveals that there is a lot we can do to prevent germ-induced suffering. You'll never look at anything the same way again. Author Information Philip M. Tierno, Jr., Ph.D., helped solve the mystery behind toxic shock syndrome. He is Director of Clinical Microbiology and Immunology at New York University Medical Center and is a member of the faculty at NYU School of Medicine. He has appeared on such shows as 20/20, Oprah, Dateline, and PrimeTime. Dr. Tierno lives in a suburb of New York.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews:
Add Your Own Review |
 Good introduction to this new world, May 09, 2017
By ENielsen
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This book gives you a good understanding on the potential and risk for not being aware of the effect the germs have on our life. More information like this book will hopefully change behavior.
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 Way Out of Date, Should be Retitled "Secret Life of Pathogens", July 02, 2016
By Nicholas Robinson
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I picked this up as a layman's guide to microbiology: something not so dry and technical that I'd be yawning right about the part where we start talking about the "motility of provotellum via flagellar movements" but I wasn't prepared for the high-scholl textbook level of this book.
If you haven't been buried under a rock for the past year or so and do a considerable amount of science reading you will have read about the explosion of knowledge about the microbiome, mainly due to the greatly reduced price of sequencing the genomes of various of our micropals—the bacteria and viruses and helminths and other creatures—not pathogens, people, creatures—who live in, on and around us and have been for about 3.9 billion more years than we have.
You can generally get an idea about the author's perspective when he starts with the "Eeww" stories—how Ebola can race across the globe because three businessmen fondle each other in a public bathroom.
This is supposed to teach us about microbiology?
It would be like picking up a book about the Amazon rainforest and reading in the first few pages about all the jaguars and snakes and army ants that live in the branches everywhere, just waiting to devour you, if, of course you don't have your trusty Smith and Wesson elephant gun.
The tipoff should have been in the title: to this author, all those varmints are just clumped under the taxa "Germs;" never mind that a virus is as different from a bacteria as a cat is from a fish. No, scratch that: bad analogy! A virus is as different from a bacteria as a rock is from a tree.
*Sigh* not only is this a book that belongs in a 20-year-old high school library, but it's disturbing to see that it is still even in print.
*Note: a brief Google search turns up the author as now being a shill for a company selling mattress covers to prevent allergies) but he's been on "Montel"!).
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 Some good information in here, October 15, 2015
By Tammy P.
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Used book as well as others for a science project. Some good information in here.
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WHO LOVED IT!, October 12, 2015
By Joan L. Ross
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GAVE IT AS GIFT TO MICROBIOLOGIST FRIEND, WHO LOVED IT!
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Three Stars, July 22, 2015
By steve locigno
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Lost before enjoyment could occur.
Any generous donor's out there?
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The world is awash in poop!, April 19, 2015
By A Customer
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I'll save you some money. The world is awash in poop!
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See all 20 Reviews.
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