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The Hidden Half of Nature: The Microbial Roots of Life and Health
A riveting exploration of how microbes are transforming the way we see nature and ourselves—and could revolutionize agriculture and medicine.
The Hidden Half of Nature lays out the astonishing reality we've been missing in the soil beneath our feet and right inside our bodies—our world depends on a foundation of invisible life.
Montgomery and Biklé share a captivating story of the least-loved part of nature, taking readers through major milestones in agriculture and medicine to untangle our uneasy relationship with microbes. From the challenge of turning their barren Seattle lot into a flourishing garden through Biklé’s struggle with a surprise cancer diagnosis, the authors discover the power nature's smallest creatures wield over our lives. Stunning parallels in the relationships that microbes develop with plant roots and the human gut reveal ways that farmers can restore degraded fields and doctors can reverse the modern epidemic of chronic diseases. For in cultivating the beneficial microbes that make soil fertile and keep us healthy, we can suture rifts never meant to be.
The Hidden Half of Nature lays out the astonishing reality we've been missing in the soil beneath our feet and right inside our bodies—our world depends on a foundation of invisible life.
Montgomery and Biklé share a captivating story of the least-loved part of nature, taking readers through major milestones in agriculture and medicine to untangle our uneasy relationship with microbes. From the challenge of turning their barren Seattle lot into a flourishing garden through Biklé’s struggle with a surprise cancer diagnosis, the authors discover the power nature's smallest creatures wield over our lives. Stunning parallels in the relationships that microbes develop with plant roots and the human gut reveal ways that farmers can restore degraded fields and doctors can reverse the modern epidemic of chronic diseases. For in cultivating the beneficial microbes that make soil fertile and keep us healthy, we can suture rifts never meant to be.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published November 16, 2015
237 people are currently reading
3924 people want to read
About the author
David R. Montgomery
24 books198 followersDavid R. Montgomery is a MacArthur Fellow and professor of geomorphology at the University of Washington. He is an internationally recognized geologist who studies landscape evolution and the effects of geological processes on ecological systems and human societies. An author of award-winning popular-science books, he has been featured in documentary films, network and cable news, and on a wide variety of TV and radio programs, including NOVA, PBS NewsHour, Fox and Friends, and All Things Considered. When not writing or doing geology, he plays guitar and piano in the band Big Dirt. He lives in Seattle, with his wife Anne Biklé and their black lab guide-dog dropout Loki.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 130 reviews
February 20, 2016
Soil fascinates me. I'm not a scientist or a biologist, but ecology is one of my passions, and the role of soil - the source of plant life and health, rejuvenated by organic matter and critters, essential to agriculture and healthy food, able to sequester carbon, so tied in to the whole web of life - is vastly interesting to me.
I read this book because I'm a fan of David Montgomery's other science books for general audiences, and was interested to learn more about he and his wife rejuvenated their Seattle yard's and created a garden. (I'm also a Seattleite who has a yard full of soil that needs some help.)
I didn't initially realize when I picked up the book that it was also about our internal microbiome. The advances in our understanding of our gut flora in recent years are amazing, and I recently read a book on this exact topic. So although the book wasn't always the most riveting read for my bus commute (it's nonfiction, after all), I did find it all very interesting.
What I really loved about this book was the comparison and connections drawn between gardens and human digestive systems. Both are full of microbiology that, in large part, is helpful (extracts nutrients, keeps pests at bay) and feeding the microbiome is best for health and balance. I've been pursuing my own dietary changes for 4-5 years now, incrementally, and this book gave me a new area to focus on: how to feed my internal micro-allies.
The garden analogy made my own internal system make more sense to me. The gut is the root. Mind blown. Highly recommended.
I read this book because I'm a fan of David Montgomery's other science books for general audiences, and was interested to learn more about he and his wife rejuvenated their Seattle yard's and created a garden. (I'm also a Seattleite who has a yard full of soil that needs some help.)
I didn't initially realize when I picked up the book that it was also about our internal microbiome. The advances in our understanding of our gut flora in recent years are amazing, and I recently read a book on this exact topic. So although the book wasn't always the most riveting read for my bus commute (it's nonfiction, after all), I did find it all very interesting.
What I really loved about this book was the comparison and connections drawn between gardens and human digestive systems. Both are full of microbiology that, in large part, is helpful (extracts nutrients, keeps pests at bay) and feeding the microbiome is best for health and balance. I've been pursuing my own dietary changes for 4-5 years now, incrementally, and this book gave me a new area to focus on: how to feed my internal micro-allies.
The garden analogy made my own internal system make more sense to me. The gut is the root. Mind blown. Highly recommended.
June 7, 2016
The authors are a married couple, one a geologist and the other a biologist. When they moved into a new home in Seattle, they discovered (as many other American home-owners have) that the soil in their backyard was about 1-2 inches of turf over clay. It is apparently standard practice to scrape away all the topsoil when making a new development, then buy turf to lay on top of that just before the sale.
So, they set about trying to improve the soil. This basically required a lot of organic matter (aka "mulch"). This led them, as it does to anyone with an interest in both science and gardening, into thinking a lot more about the things living in their soil. From there, they fell down the rabbit hole of research, and discovered something about the age we live in.
The gene sequencer is to current microbial research, much like what the early telescope was for Galileo. The first trickle of new discoveries about microbes which come from gene sequencing a couple decades ago, have become a flood. Nearly anywhere that you "look" using a gene sequencer, you find that 99% of the microbes are ones we hadn't known about before. It reminds one of Galileo pointing his telescope at a mostly dark portion of the night sky and seeing countless stars too faint to see before.
But, so what?
The curve ball (for the authors even more than the reader, I'm sure) is when one of the authors gets cancer, and starts thinking a whole lot more about what's going on inside her own body. This leads to consideration of what we're putting in there, which leads to the Big Idea which is at the heart of this book (spoiler alert):
The microbial ecosystem going on in the soil of our lawn or garden, bears more than a passing resemblance to the ecosystem going on in our insides, especially the digestive system. The reason, is that both are doing roughly the same thing: breaking down complex matter into something usable for new life. When it's working right, it has a whole web of interconnecting species, each producing what the others need, and all together forming a defense system against invaders.
This leads to a further analogy: using antibiotics on a recurring basis is rather like using pesticides in your garden on a recurring basis. Just as the pests will come back stronger than ever because you have killed off their predators, overuse of antibiotics kills off the microbial ecosystem that helps out your immune system, and since nature abhors a vacuum, it is the fastest and least cooperative microbes that will rush in first to fill the void. Just as using chemical fertilizers and pesticides tends to create a need for more fertilizers and pesticides, so using antibiotics tends to create a need for more antibiotics. In both cases, there was a complex ecosystem of interdependent microbes that gets disrupted or even wiped out, and now there is not as much there to resist the invasion of what you wanted to get rid of.
Of course, if you've already gotten a serious infection, it's too late to worry about this, and it's time to take an antibiotic. The authors are careful to make this point several times in the book, perhaps because they know that some of the readers most likely to pick up and read their book are all-too-willing to believe that technology is bad. But even the most pro-technology layman should by now have noticed that we have a problem with overuse of antibiotics, for a number of reasons, and it's good to read a scientifically informed analysis of some of the reasons why.
In fact, that's what makes this book an interesting read: the authors are more or less pro-science hippies. It's a refreshing perspective, and one with a lot of interesting insights. As a pro-science and mostly pro-technology amateur gardener myself, I found a lot worth pondering in this book, more than can be summarized here. They make good use of diagrams to help with the explanations, and use a good mix of personal anecdote, science history, and translating of the latest research into something I can read and understand.
I suspect that twenty years from now, this will all seem self-evident, and every high school student who takes a course in biology will learn it along with the theory of evolution and the carbon cycle. Right now, though, it is extraordinarily useful to have someone who can read the published articles of our modern-day Galileos, and translate it into an entertaining English language story.
So, they set about trying to improve the soil. This basically required a lot of organic matter (aka "mulch"). This led them, as it does to anyone with an interest in both science and gardening, into thinking a lot more about the things living in their soil. From there, they fell down the rabbit hole of research, and discovered something about the age we live in.
The gene sequencer is to current microbial research, much like what the early telescope was for Galileo. The first trickle of new discoveries about microbes which come from gene sequencing a couple decades ago, have become a flood. Nearly anywhere that you "look" using a gene sequencer, you find that 99% of the microbes are ones we hadn't known about before. It reminds one of Galileo pointing his telescope at a mostly dark portion of the night sky and seeing countless stars too faint to see before.
But, so what?
The curve ball (for the authors even more than the reader, I'm sure) is when one of the authors gets cancer, and starts thinking a whole lot more about what's going on inside her own body. This leads to consideration of what we're putting in there, which leads to the Big Idea which is at the heart of this book (spoiler alert):
The microbial ecosystem going on in the soil of our lawn or garden, bears more than a passing resemblance to the ecosystem going on in our insides, especially the digestive system. The reason, is that both are doing roughly the same thing: breaking down complex matter into something usable for new life. When it's working right, it has a whole web of interconnecting species, each producing what the others need, and all together forming a defense system against invaders.
This leads to a further analogy: using antibiotics on a recurring basis is rather like using pesticides in your garden on a recurring basis. Just as the pests will come back stronger than ever because you have killed off their predators, overuse of antibiotics kills off the microbial ecosystem that helps out your immune system, and since nature abhors a vacuum, it is the fastest and least cooperative microbes that will rush in first to fill the void. Just as using chemical fertilizers and pesticides tends to create a need for more fertilizers and pesticides, so using antibiotics tends to create a need for more antibiotics. In both cases, there was a complex ecosystem of interdependent microbes that gets disrupted or even wiped out, and now there is not as much there to resist the invasion of what you wanted to get rid of.
Of course, if you've already gotten a serious infection, it's too late to worry about this, and it's time to take an antibiotic. The authors are careful to make this point several times in the book, perhaps because they know that some of the readers most likely to pick up and read their book are all-too-willing to believe that technology is bad. But even the most pro-technology layman should by now have noticed that we have a problem with overuse of antibiotics, for a number of reasons, and it's good to read a scientifically informed analysis of some of the reasons why.
In fact, that's what makes this book an interesting read: the authors are more or less pro-science hippies. It's a refreshing perspective, and one with a lot of interesting insights. As a pro-science and mostly pro-technology amateur gardener myself, I found a lot worth pondering in this book, more than can be summarized here. They make good use of diagrams to help with the explanations, and use a good mix of personal anecdote, science history, and translating of the latest research into something I can read and understand.
I suspect that twenty years from now, this will all seem self-evident, and every high school student who takes a course in biology will learn it along with the theory of evolution and the carbon cycle. Right now, though, it is extraordinarily useful to have someone who can read the published articles of our modern-day Galileos, and translate it into an entertaining English language story.
January 20, 2018
So we hear we should eat organic, take probiotics, eat less meat, eat our vegetables... but why and how exactly will this improve our health? Isn't it all just another a trend? And why is organic farming and no-tillage agriculture better than chemical fertilizers? And why is "conventional" farming so entrenched in our culture?
If you've ever wondered about any of questions, this book is for you. It is definitely dense for non-biologists, like myself, but fascinating. The way the book is put together keeps it engaging and moving forward; the authors combine their personal experiences with gardening and cancer to lay the groundwork for their research. Then, they provide ample information on the history of different scientific discoveries and how they've shaped prevailing schools of thought in agriculture and medicine over the past several centuries. These history lessons are interspersed with biology lessons relevant to agriculture and human health, particularly related to our immune and digestive systems. All together, the book is an intricately woven tale revealing how soil's microbiology and a plant's root system mirror what we eat and how our body processes it. Mind. Blown.
If you've ever wondered about any of questions, this book is for you. It is definitely dense for non-biologists, like myself, but fascinating. The way the book is put together keeps it engaging and moving forward; the authors combine their personal experiences with gardening and cancer to lay the groundwork for their research. Then, they provide ample information on the history of different scientific discoveries and how they've shaped prevailing schools of thought in agriculture and medicine over the past several centuries. These history lessons are interspersed with biology lessons relevant to agriculture and human health, particularly related to our immune and digestive systems. All together, the book is an intricately woven tale revealing how soil's microbiology and a plant's root system mirror what we eat and how our body processes it. Mind. Blown.
October 11, 2025
This is a highly enjoyable and a bit quirky 2016 book on interactions between fungi/bacteria and plants in your backyard and farms (and everywhere) which transitions to microbes enabling animals - like us - to process food. The second (human) half is a little preachy, but the whole is altogether charming. Even if you are reasonably well versed in the interconnectedness of bacteria and us, and mycorrhizal networks with plants, the husband/wife team of Montgomery and Bikle bring a lot of well chosen stories to the subject that are interesting and make sense.
This is not a strictly scientific pamphlet, so the frequent references to scientific data are put forth as absolutely true - but are probably not quite (it's always more complex than true!) But the pair get the idea across: we need microbes and microbes need us.
I liked the first half of the book best - about plants - especially the pair changing their barren Seattle backyard with compost that Bikle collects from any source she can, eventually getting beautiful soil that supports their garden (I can just smell the loam!) The second section about humans/animals i is maybe a little organic/ diet/ fringe. But it's all educational.
Good stuff.
This is not a strictly scientific pamphlet, so the frequent references to scientific data are put forth as absolutely true - but are probably not quite (it's always more complex than true!) But the pair get the idea across: we need microbes and microbes need us.
I liked the first half of the book best - about plants - especially the pair changing their barren Seattle backyard with compost that Bikle collects from any source she can, eventually getting beautiful soil that supports their garden (I can just smell the loam!) The second section about humans/animals i is maybe a little organic/ diet/ fringe. But it's all educational.
Good stuff.
March 14, 2017
This was a strange book to read. At several points, I almost quit reading it because of the giant leaps between back and forth between overly detailed technical science and overly generalized policy directives. And just generally I didn't enjoy it, but there was enough detail to keep me reading. The idea of the book, that the microbial environment and the microbiota that surround us and are within us are critical for a true understanding of environmental and personal health, is undeniable. And it is relatively new to science, and an area that obviously represents a ton of future research and investigation. Understanding the microscopic world is going to be critical as humans learn to steward and manage the earth and our own health.
But, the book was constructed in a way that there is no next level to go to for the reader - there's a lot of detail around specific research and a lot of generalizations about the flaws in policy that support antibiotics and chemical fertilizer and other anti-microbial life. The author seems completely unable to contemplate that the same businesses and researchers and scientists that have discovered antibiological tools like those, will be, and are, at the forefront of investigating the microbiota for tools that humans can use.
There's a big anti-business theme that lurks beneath throughout the book, that the evil fertilizer and antimicrobial hand sanitizer companies are headed in the wrong direction. I found this theme to be way oversimplified and nonnuanced, ignoring market factors and also the possibility that the businesses are already heeding the book's key point. Those businesses are simply waiting for next best product to sell and produce. Once microbial research develops practical enhancements to current technology, it will be incorporated in and sold just as the fertilizers were. People know about the pros of probiotics and the negatives of antibiotics at this point. What the next steps are, beyond a general appreciation for the microbe, is what is completely lacking in this book.
But, the book was constructed in a way that there is no next level to go to for the reader - there's a lot of detail around specific research and a lot of generalizations about the flaws in policy that support antibiotics and chemical fertilizer and other anti-microbial life. The author seems completely unable to contemplate that the same businesses and researchers and scientists that have discovered antibiological tools like those, will be, and are, at the forefront of investigating the microbiota for tools that humans can use.
There's a big anti-business theme that lurks beneath throughout the book, that the evil fertilizer and antimicrobial hand sanitizer companies are headed in the wrong direction. I found this theme to be way oversimplified and nonnuanced, ignoring market factors and also the possibility that the businesses are already heeding the book's key point. Those businesses are simply waiting for next best product to sell and produce. Once microbial research develops practical enhancements to current technology, it will be incorporated in and sold just as the fertilizers were. People know about the pros of probiotics and the negatives of antibiotics at this point. What the next steps are, beyond a general appreciation for the microbe, is what is completely lacking in this book.
May 17, 2017
Not exactly what i had expected... I thought it would be a lot more about the microscopic life in the upper layer of the ground (arthropods, fungi, bacteria, etc. which help the gardener) and nature. This book was actually much about medicine and health which isn't really my cup of tea, but it was very instructive nonetheless!
December 18, 2017
I feel bad for not liking this book. I love all things microbes but don't love the writing style. It was a biography, more than anything else, which I am sure worked for many people, but it didn't work for me. There were some interesting aspects to the book but I had to wade through the personal lives of the authors, and I just couldn't make myself care about their house, their garden, or their lives. Of course I care about cancer and am always interested in reading about any advance in that field, but this just wasn't the book for me.
February 28, 2017
A book that covers a something you can't see but is integral to the web of life on earth, microbes and fungi and how they keep soil fertile and keep people healthy . The first third covers fungi and microbes in soil and the second two thirds talks about gut microbes, our microbiome. A lot of interesting info on areas that are currently being heavily researched and more fully understood. I am in no position to determine how accurate the info is but it seems well researched. The final couple of chapters draw a comparison of the rhizosphere (the part of of the soil containing the root hairs and their related fungi and microbes) and our microbiome (the microbes inhabiting our bodies and particularly the colon in this case).
This book is a fairly heavy read since it deals with a lot of science but it tries to give a good background to prepare the reader to understand what they'll need to grasp the new research. This is often done by giving a history of the scientists and their research that led up to and established these facts. Most of that research is much older than the current renewed interest would indicate. I would not call this a casual read but I did learn a lot and enjoyed it enough to read the whole thing even though I was really only interested in the soil and plant-fungi-bacteria relationship when I picked it up.
This book is a fairly heavy read since it deals with a lot of science but it tries to give a good background to prepare the reader to understand what they'll need to grasp the new research. This is often done by giving a history of the scientists and their research that led up to and established these facts. Most of that research is much older than the current renewed interest would indicate. I would not call this a casual read but I did learn a lot and enjoyed it enough to read the whole thing even though I was really only interested in the soil and plant-fungi-bacteria relationship when I picked it up.
May 3, 2022
This book was fascinating to me. I feel like I only now truly understand what organic farming and organic food are and why they matter, and I finally understand how the crappy diets that industrialized food production has promoted lead to cancer. It was difficult for me to get through some sections because I had a hard time following all the scientific terms, but I feel like the authors did an effective job of traveling from soil science to gut health and the human immune system and back, tying our bodily well-being to our planet's well-being.
This article by the authors led me to read this book.
This article by the authors led me to read this book.
June 3, 2019
3.5 stars. An accessible book about the science of microbes and how they impact both the world around us and our health. Gave me plenty to think about.
June 28, 2018
A nice little primer on microbes and how they have the potential to being the key to good health both for people and plants. The writing is well done with a good flow and keeps the reader engaged. It begins with the authors attempting to bring their yard back from the dead to construct vegetable gardens. Through their journey they begin to realize that much of what makes a garden thrive happens underneath our feet, in the ground where bacteria and microbes work symbiotically with plants. Really fascinating stuff. Then one of the authors is diagnosed with cancer and a whole different, but parallel, journey ensues. They find out that microbes and bacteria are also in our guts and that our microbiome is important to our overall health. We are literally what we eat. More fascinating stuff. In the end, the two tracks of soil health and gut health are extremely similar. By nurturing the bacteria and microbes that are beneficial to us and the soil, healthy outcomes abound. It's an amazing look at how connected we are to nature, especially the nature we cannot see.
March 15, 2017
"The Hidden Half of Nature" is a very balanced book using both personal stories and the histories of agriculture, science, and medicine to contextualize the impact of the microbial world on both soil and digestive tract health, and why those things matter.
Over the course of the book, it develops that both the soil around plant roots and the cavities of the human colon have an odd number of similarities. Both develop microbe ecologies that play critical roles in extracting nutrients and protecting their broader organisms from disease. Both have been overlooked in twentieth century trends towards chemical applications that made real contributions but have been overextended, and overlooked in a way that requires continual human intervention. Both can be rebuilt with the appropriate organic matter.
For the most part, this book is briskly paced, using the history of discoveries to impart facts instead of long descriptions. It is nearly evenly divided between soil health in the first half and human health in the second half, though both subjects are pervasive. Both sections are framed by narratives from the authors lives that give it a practical and immediate importance.
Some take-aways: do garden, and when doing so, do compost and inoculate where possible, avoiding fertilizers and pesticides. When eating, do prefer vegetables, fruits, and whole grains, and also fermented foods and other probiotics. By doing so, you'll be maintaining the ecology of you and what you eat.
Over the course of the book, it develops that both the soil around plant roots and the cavities of the human colon have an odd number of similarities. Both develop microbe ecologies that play critical roles in extracting nutrients and protecting their broader organisms from disease. Both have been overlooked in twentieth century trends towards chemical applications that made real contributions but have been overextended, and overlooked in a way that requires continual human intervention. Both can be rebuilt with the appropriate organic matter.
For the most part, this book is briskly paced, using the history of discoveries to impart facts instead of long descriptions. It is nearly evenly divided between soil health in the first half and human health in the second half, though both subjects are pervasive. Both sections are framed by narratives from the authors lives that give it a practical and immediate importance.
Some take-aways: do garden, and when doing so, do compost and inoculate where possible, avoiding fertilizers and pesticides. When eating, do prefer vegetables, fruits, and whole grains, and also fermented foods and other probiotics. By doing so, you'll be maintaining the ecology of you and what you eat.
June 20, 2020
This book changed the way I look at nature. Beautifully written and continuously captivating, The Hidden Half of Nature bridges the gap between environmental sustainability and personal health. The authors blended their personal story with a history of scientific discovery, painting a picture of the essential symbiosis between microbes and human health. I recommend this book to anyone, but especially those interested in the environment, self-help, public health, or agriculture. I absolutely loved this book and look forward to reading it again.
November 18, 2022
Love the parallel discussion between soil health and health and how humans and the Earth are made for one another. Montgomery does a good job of weaving the personal, the historical, and current research together.
I thought the chapter on classifications and the beginnings of microscopes was particularly interesting. The chapter on cancer felt a little bit out of place in the bigger scheme of the book. Still four stars and would recommend to anyone who's interested in health, farming, agriculture, climate conversations, or general rejoicing in the beauty of the world.
I thought the chapter on classifications and the beginnings of microscopes was particularly interesting. The chapter on cancer felt a little bit out of place in the bigger scheme of the book. Still four stars and would recommend to anyone who's interested in health, farming, agriculture, climate conversations, or general rejoicing in the beauty of the world.
June 23, 2017
A really approachable guide to the research behind microbiome theory. I loved how David and Anne combine their research and experience, both agricultural and medicinal. I think further research will similarly point to the connections between healthy soil with a balanced micro-ecosystem and sustained good health of those who draw their lives from it.
December 1, 2021
Absolutely fascinating! This book connected so many dots for me and provided a clear picture of what's happening at the microbiotic level and how that impacts everything from soil to digestion.
January 16, 2016
A popular-science overview of what we currently understand about the symbiotic relationships between the microbial world and the visible world, including plant and animal health, this is a quick and informative read that will definitely have something new to teach you if, like me, you last took a science class a couple of decades ago. The authors are a husband and wife team - he a geologist, she a biologist - who each write one of the book's two sections, the first focused on soil science and the second on the microbiome of the human digestive system. More and more research demonstrates the importance of thriving colonies of beneficial bacteria for the health, nutrition, and disease resistance of plants and animals alike, but both our agricultural and medical systems continue to operate as though the only good bacterium is a dead bacterium. The authors show how a desire for immediate results and profits, overspecialization in the sciences, and an unwillingness to admit what we don't know have led us to undervalue and microbes' role in nature. But they're also optimistic about the resilience and therapeutic promise of the microbiome, and urge scientists, farmers, doctors, and ordinary people to join together in a kind of microbial conservation movement to change our habits. Although (infrequently) the popular science-y tone can veer dangerously close to the patronizing, this is straightforward science writing, not an environmentalist polemic, and it is a good general overview of the topic for the layperson.
September 6, 2016
The novel thesis of the book is that microbes making up "microbiomes" are crucial in our health and in the health of soil and the plants we eat. A review mentioned that the two authors, husband and wife, alternate in taking the lead on the chapters. But I remember only one chapter that was written in the first person by the wife who had just been diagnosed with cancer. The book sunk a bit too much for me into New Age-y-ness and the description of our immune system was a bit too tedious. But if you do not know about the importance of microbes in our bodies and in natural ecosystems, this book is an excellent start on the topic.
January 26, 2016
In general it was a good book especially for the general audience who may just be getting introduced to the ideas in this book. I enjoyed the sections on the working with the garden more than the sections about the microbiome of our bodies.
I was actually disappointed by the sections on the microbiome of our bodies as there was no mention of Bechamps although they talked a lot about Pasteur. In the end I felt as if I hadn't gotten any new information and that there was a lot that could have been said but wasn't.
I was actually disappointed by the sections on the microbiome of our bodies as there was no mention of Bechamps although they talked a lot about Pasteur. In the end I felt as if I hadn't gotten any new information and that there was a lot that could have been said but wasn't.
December 15, 2016
This is the first book I've seen that really stitches together the importance of microbes in both our soils and our bodies. Gives a great overview of the scientists and actors involved in our current understanding of germ theory and health without being too heavy handed. It's not really a "how-to" book, and while a part of me would have liked them to offer like, a specific way to address gut dysbiosis, that's not what they set out to do.
I enjoyed it a lot
I enjoyed it a lot
May 4, 2016
Excellent writing on the microorganisms in our lives. The book offers a easy-to-understand approach to the science of microbiomes in our soil and in our gut. The authors include some very personal reasons for exploring this field and the connections are solid. I borrowed this book from the library but will be buying it because it has a lot of useful information.
January 30, 2016
This book is an eye-opening look about the microbes in our soil and inside us. Most everyone knows there are lots of microbes in and around us, but to learn how they work, how critical they are, and how we are disrupting various systems is important. Good read!
August 18, 2017
Absolutely amazing. Changed the way that I looked at the world around me. I love going small (microbial), both in relation to learning about gardening and the human body. Amazing, and well written.
August 7, 2018
Interesting, but I think some of the science regarding the human gut biome is suspect (or at least unsettled). The parts that deal with soil fungus seem to be on firmer ground.
March 21, 2019
I am conflicted about this book. On one hand, the subject is of terrible relevance and needs to be known by as many people as possible. On the other, the authors are not very good writers: the whole book feels like a big blog post, filled with repetitions, personal opinions and little in the way of hard data. Most of the information in it I already knew, but that's because I am fascinated with the subject. If I didn't know it, I would have probably loved the book.
But what is The Hidden Half of Nature? It's an ecology book. It explains how microbes are the unsung true heroes of plant growth and animal health, including humans. While we cling to narrow views of us versus them and try to kill anything that doesn't agree with us, our lives, our food, our health and our lands depend on the biological health of the microbiome. And it makes a lot of sense. Why would a plant develop a way to absorb nitrogen or break down rock, if all it has to do it exude some sugar and bacteria or fungi are going to do it for it? Why would animals develop complicated organs to break down complex molecules like cellulose when all they have to do is make a space where microscopic creatures live off them and give the animal simple nutrients back? How would it even work to evolve completely independent of the life that you can't see with the naked eye, but outnumbers and outmasses any macroscopic life? We thus learn that most microbes are beneficial and imbalances are much more dangerous than a specific species of a bug.
The book starts with the authors, David R. Montgomery and Anne Biklé, husband and wife, buying a house and dreaming of tending a garden, only to discover that their yard had almost no soil. Bringing a lot of organic matter to decay and be assimilated by microscopic life and then other creatures, from insects and worms to birds and other animals, they are shocked to discover that soil recovers much faster and in inexplicable ways than they were taught. Following the rabbit in its hole, they embark on a journey of discovery on how the microscopic influences every aspect of the macroscopic. It all starts with soil, but then it goes into nutrition and health and it all comes together: the idea that good comes from the health of the entire ecosystem, as all we can actually see with our eyes are big enough to be counted as such, colonized and tended by microscopic creatures that have evolved and cooperated with us to reach an equilibrium.
We become familiarized with the concept of dysbiosis, or dysfunctional symbiosis, and how it affects the nutritional values of food, the quality of the land, our chronic and acute diseases, cancer, allergies. Parallels are drawn: the digestive system as roots, a person as an ecosystem, our gut as a garden. All in all a fascinating and cutting edge subject where the ecology, the systemic health on all levels, is the important driver of our lives.
Yet the style in which the book is written really put me off. I started finding reasons not to read. The first half especially. The book starts by bemoaning the dry style of scientific publications and vows to tell the story in a way that anyone can understand. That means a lot of dramatizations, personal opinions, very little in the way of sourcing the ideas other than a name here and there. And whenever they were getting into something promising, they skirted on the details. I believe that if this book would have moved just a little bit away from the conversational blog-like style towards the Wikipedia format it would have been at least twice as valuable.
Bottom line: a book that most people should read, but I wish it would have been written differently.
But what is The Hidden Half of Nature? It's an ecology book. It explains how microbes are the unsung true heroes of plant growth and animal health, including humans. While we cling to narrow views of us versus them and try to kill anything that doesn't agree with us, our lives, our food, our health and our lands depend on the biological health of the microbiome. And it makes a lot of sense. Why would a plant develop a way to absorb nitrogen or break down rock, if all it has to do it exude some sugar and bacteria or fungi are going to do it for it? Why would animals develop complicated organs to break down complex molecules like cellulose when all they have to do is make a space where microscopic creatures live off them and give the animal simple nutrients back? How would it even work to evolve completely independent of the life that you can't see with the naked eye, but outnumbers and outmasses any macroscopic life? We thus learn that most microbes are beneficial and imbalances are much more dangerous than a specific species of a bug.
The book starts with the authors, David R. Montgomery and Anne Biklé, husband and wife, buying a house and dreaming of tending a garden, only to discover that their yard had almost no soil. Bringing a lot of organic matter to decay and be assimilated by microscopic life and then other creatures, from insects and worms to birds and other animals, they are shocked to discover that soil recovers much faster and in inexplicable ways than they were taught. Following the rabbit in its hole, they embark on a journey of discovery on how the microscopic influences every aspect of the macroscopic. It all starts with soil, but then it goes into nutrition and health and it all comes together: the idea that good comes from the health of the entire ecosystem, as all we can actually see with our eyes are big enough to be counted as such, colonized and tended by microscopic creatures that have evolved and cooperated with us to reach an equilibrium.
We become familiarized with the concept of dysbiosis, or dysfunctional symbiosis, and how it affects the nutritional values of food, the quality of the land, our chronic and acute diseases, cancer, allergies. Parallels are drawn: the digestive system as roots, a person as an ecosystem, our gut as a garden. All in all a fascinating and cutting edge subject where the ecology, the systemic health on all levels, is the important driver of our lives.
Yet the style in which the book is written really put me off. I started finding reasons not to read. The first half especially. The book starts by bemoaning the dry style of scientific publications and vows to tell the story in a way that anyone can understand. That means a lot of dramatizations, personal opinions, very little in the way of sourcing the ideas other than a name here and there. And whenever they were getting into something promising, they skirted on the details. I believe that if this book would have moved just a little bit away from the conversational blog-like style towards the Wikipedia format it would have been at least twice as valuable.
Bottom line: a book that most people should read, but I wish it would have been written differently.
July 21, 2021
I love books that change my mind and spur a new passion to change both myself and the world. This book should be seen as a paradigm shift on how we see health - health in our bodies and health in our soil. In short, the microbes that populate our gut and our soil are at the heart of a healthy, thriving world.
Some tidbits:
- We have lost significant mineral content in our crops. From 1978-1991, levels of zinc in fruits and vegetables declined from 27 and 59 percent, respectively. Across all food groups, from 1941 to 1991, copper decreased by 20 to 97 percent. Magnesium by 26 percent. Iron by 24 and 83 percent. These are the building blocks of our bodies and are instrumental in growing from child to adult. One hypothesis I developed while reading this book is that the current state of mental health is in part driven by the significant decrease of these essential minerals in our food.
- Synthetic pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides are horrible in that they lay waste to the complex, mutually supporting ecosystem of plants and their roots. A fully functioning root system is significantly more robust and stronger against pathogens than a microbially-decimated one; and yet, once one gets addicted to the -cides, you then almost need to continue using them (along with synthetic fertilizers) to keep crop yields up. The good news is that there is a way out. We can build up our soil, and fast; and that there is a growing industry of biologically-based fertilizers to restore and strengthen soil health and fertility.
- Our gut is teeming with microbes, and they exist in a complex, mutually supporting way to help us guard against disease and ill health. Unfortunately the standard Western Diet is anathematic to good gut health; but there is a way out!
- Studying the microbiome is a burgeoning and exciting realm of science right now!
David Montgomery has written a collection of mind-changing books on crops and soil. This is a great culmination of so much of his work. I can’t wait for their next book. A big part of me hopes that he and Anne Bikle write a How To Garden & Grow (Gut Health & Crops?) handbook in order to condense everything they’ve learned into a practical guide.
Highly recommended!
Some tidbits:
- We have lost significant mineral content in our crops. From 1978-1991, levels of zinc in fruits and vegetables declined from 27 and 59 percent, respectively. Across all food groups, from 1941 to 1991, copper decreased by 20 to 97 percent. Magnesium by 26 percent. Iron by 24 and 83 percent. These are the building blocks of our bodies and are instrumental in growing from child to adult. One hypothesis I developed while reading this book is that the current state of mental health is in part driven by the significant decrease of these essential minerals in our food.
- Synthetic pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides are horrible in that they lay waste to the complex, mutually supporting ecosystem of plants and their roots. A fully functioning root system is significantly more robust and stronger against pathogens than a microbially-decimated one; and yet, once one gets addicted to the -cides, you then almost need to continue using them (along with synthetic fertilizers) to keep crop yields up. The good news is that there is a way out. We can build up our soil, and fast; and that there is a growing industry of biologically-based fertilizers to restore and strengthen soil health and fertility.
- Our gut is teeming with microbes, and they exist in a complex, mutually supporting way to help us guard against disease and ill health. Unfortunately the standard Western Diet is anathematic to good gut health; but there is a way out!
- Studying the microbiome is a burgeoning and exciting realm of science right now!
David Montgomery has written a collection of mind-changing books on crops and soil. This is a great culmination of so much of his work. I can’t wait for their next book. A big part of me hopes that he and Anne Bikle write a How To Garden & Grow (Gut Health & Crops?) handbook in order to condense everything they’ve learned into a practical guide.
Highly recommended!
July 25, 2024
The book starts by recounting the author’s experiences of revitalizing the depleted soil around their home and how this build-up of humus was intimately linked to the health of the soil’s microbiome. As the soil microbial community changed, so did the health (and nutritional content) of the plants grown in it.
The author then provides an intriguing argument by analogy: the microbiome of our gut may respond to nutritional changes in the same way as the soil. Both constitute microbial communities, both have regional subpopulations, and both depend on an influx of nutrients. Had they stopped here, one might easily dismiss their ideas; after all, reasoning by analogical reasoning, as an observation, can be a starting point for an argument, but it is not the apex. However, the authors follow through and provide examples that support their observation, including data from controlled studies of microbial population changes with diet and their correlations with health and food cravings. It gives a good, non-professional introduction to gene flow within bacterial populations and the mutualist relationships within communities (including us, their habitat).
The linking analogy is an essential bridge in this text, but it can also make the book a little more difficult than some other books on microbiomes. However, the content of the book makes the slight extra effort required worth it. Remember, science changes with new data, and few fields are changing as rapidly as our understanding of the microbiome and microbial ecology. As the latest information pours in, these ideas may become dated, or they may prove a readable summary of the foundations of our new ideas. For now, they provide an applicable overview of the thinking about the principles of microbial ecology and health as it stands today.
The author then provides an intriguing argument by analogy: the microbiome of our gut may respond to nutritional changes in the same way as the soil. Both constitute microbial communities, both have regional subpopulations, and both depend on an influx of nutrients. Had they stopped here, one might easily dismiss their ideas; after all, reasoning by analogical reasoning, as an observation, can be a starting point for an argument, but it is not the apex. However, the authors follow through and provide examples that support their observation, including data from controlled studies of microbial population changes with diet and their correlations with health and food cravings. It gives a good, non-professional introduction to gene flow within bacterial populations and the mutualist relationships within communities (including us, their habitat).
The linking analogy is an essential bridge in this text, but it can also make the book a little more difficult than some other books on microbiomes. However, the content of the book makes the slight extra effort required worth it. Remember, science changes with new data, and few fields are changing as rapidly as our understanding of the microbiome and microbial ecology. As the latest information pours in, these ideas may become dated, or they may prove a readable summary of the foundations of our new ideas. For now, they provide an applicable overview of the thinking about the principles of microbial ecology and health as it stands today.
March 23, 2017
This book explores the importance of microbes to the higher plants and animals. The authors start with their efforts to improve their garden soil through the addition of organic matter as a basis for examining the archaea, bacteria, fungi, protists and viruses.
Early chapters review our discovery and improving understanding of microbes through the work of Linnaeus, van Leeuwenhoek, Pasteur, Carl Woese, and finally Margulis who showed that modern plants and animals are the result of mergers with bacteria in the first billion years of life.
Early scientists identified water, carbon dioxide, nitrogen, potassium (K) and phosphorus (P) as the essentials for plant growth. This knowledge lead to the successful application of fertilizers containing nitrates, K and P. In 1937, Sir Albert Howard observed the successful use of compost in India, feeling it to grow disease-free crops. Further experimentation with composting lead him to believe that it's effectiveness was because it hosted soil organisms that supported the plants. Howard believed that composted plants were relatively free of disease and pests, while chemically fertilized crops seemed to require pesticides in a race against the same.
In the early 1900's, Lorenz Hiltner studied the effect of microbial populations on plants, concluding that they confer disease suppression. Subsequent research has shown that a substantial flow of exudates flow from the plant roots to the microbes in the rhizosphere surrounding the roots. Largely carbohydrates, the exudates may comprise 30 to 40 percent of the plant's carbohydrate production. Phytochemicals in the exudates encourage beneficial microbes and repel pathogens. Mycorrhizal fungi grow into the root hairs and provide a bridge between the plant and the soil. Complex rhizospheric processes mediated by root exudates are only now becoming understood.
Eighty percent of the immune system is associated with the gut: gut-associated lymphoid tissue (GALT). In low level inflammation, associated with auto-immune diseases, immune cells and cytokines cause an usually high rate of cell division. Sooner or later copy mistakes occur, causing uncontrolled growth and cancer. Dr. William Coley discovered that neck tumors could be reversed through the injection of a Streptococcus strain that causes erysipelas, a skin infection. Microbiologists estimate that there are around 1400 infectious disease pathogens, as compared to a million microbes in the human microbiome. Sarkis Mazmanian found that Bacteriodes fragilis would make colitis disappear through the production of polysaccharide A (PSA). Research has shown that filamentous bacteria help balance the inflammatory Th17 and inflammation-suppressing Treg cells.
Liping Zhao worked on the relationship between gut bacteria and general health. He found that a traditional Chinese diet encouraged Faecalibacterium prausnitzii, allowing him to lose his extra weight. In a patient he found high levels of endotoxin, or lipopolysaccharide, which seem to have been generated by Entrobacter population in his gut. Endotoxins cause low level inflammation. Entrobacter is encouraged by Western diets, specifically the high fat content.
Fiber is a prebiotic which encourages the colon gut microbiota. Probiotics, such as yogurt, help to re-populate the colon. Refined grains are problematical as the fiber is removed, leaving mostly carbohydrates.
There is evidence that modern crops contain lower concentrations of micro-nutrients than did those of decades ago. The authors suggest that this is because the rhizosphere is reduced due to the application of chemical fertilizers, thereby interfering with the uptake of the micro-nutrients.
A book with many interesting ideas, although some seem overstated such as the bacterial cures for colitis - if it is that simple, why is the cure not more widespread. The book would have benefited from footnotes. Although extensive sources are provided for each chapter, it is not practical to go through them all to drill into any given statement.
Early chapters review our discovery and improving understanding of microbes through the work of Linnaeus, van Leeuwenhoek, Pasteur, Carl Woese, and finally Margulis who showed that modern plants and animals are the result of mergers with bacteria in the first billion years of life.
Early scientists identified water, carbon dioxide, nitrogen, potassium (K) and phosphorus (P) as the essentials for plant growth. This knowledge lead to the successful application of fertilizers containing nitrates, K and P. In 1937, Sir Albert Howard observed the successful use of compost in India, feeling it to grow disease-free crops. Further experimentation with composting lead him to believe that it's effectiveness was because it hosted soil organisms that supported the plants. Howard believed that composted plants were relatively free of disease and pests, while chemically fertilized crops seemed to require pesticides in a race against the same.
In the early 1900's, Lorenz Hiltner studied the effect of microbial populations on plants, concluding that they confer disease suppression. Subsequent research has shown that a substantial flow of exudates flow from the plant roots to the microbes in the rhizosphere surrounding the roots. Largely carbohydrates, the exudates may comprise 30 to 40 percent of the plant's carbohydrate production. Phytochemicals in the exudates encourage beneficial microbes and repel pathogens. Mycorrhizal fungi grow into the root hairs and provide a bridge between the plant and the soil. Complex rhizospheric processes mediated by root exudates are only now becoming understood.
Eighty percent of the immune system is associated with the gut: gut-associated lymphoid tissue (GALT). In low level inflammation, associated with auto-immune diseases, immune cells and cytokines cause an usually high rate of cell division. Sooner or later copy mistakes occur, causing uncontrolled growth and cancer. Dr. William Coley discovered that neck tumors could be reversed through the injection of a Streptococcus strain that causes erysipelas, a skin infection. Microbiologists estimate that there are around 1400 infectious disease pathogens, as compared to a million microbes in the human microbiome. Sarkis Mazmanian found that Bacteriodes fragilis would make colitis disappear through the production of polysaccharide A (PSA). Research has shown that filamentous bacteria help balance the inflammatory Th17 and inflammation-suppressing Treg cells.
Liping Zhao worked on the relationship between gut bacteria and general health. He found that a traditional Chinese diet encouraged Faecalibacterium prausnitzii, allowing him to lose his extra weight. In a patient he found high levels of endotoxin, or lipopolysaccharide, which seem to have been generated by Entrobacter population in his gut. Endotoxins cause low level inflammation. Entrobacter is encouraged by Western diets, specifically the high fat content.
Fiber is a prebiotic which encourages the colon gut microbiota. Probiotics, such as yogurt, help to re-populate the colon. Refined grains are problematical as the fiber is removed, leaving mostly carbohydrates.
There is evidence that modern crops contain lower concentrations of micro-nutrients than did those of decades ago. The authors suggest that this is because the rhizosphere is reduced due to the application of chemical fertilizers, thereby interfering with the uptake of the micro-nutrients.
A book with many interesting ideas, although some seem overstated such as the bacterial cures for colitis - if it is that simple, why is the cure not more widespread. The book would have benefited from footnotes. Although extensive sources are provided for each chapter, it is not practical to go through them all to drill into any given statement.
Read
September 19, 2022This book starts talking about gardening, segues to talking about microbiology, and finishes by talking about gardening. It’s basically about the microbial world and how it impacts us. Most of this is information I’ve read about in other books, but it was a broader overview, and it touched more on the rhizosphere than the other books I’ve read, which tend to focus mostly on human gastrointestinal tracts.
So what fun things did I learn from this book? The rhizosphere, the top layer of soil, is an entire ecosystem in which plants, fungi, bacteria, and other organisms interact with each other. It’s easy to disrupt this by adding fertilizer, herbicides, pesticides, anti-fungal, or tillage. The author talked about the western science of agriculture which pretty much went “let’s not do it the old way, let’s try adding guano” to “guano is great, but there isn’t enough of it” to “wow, we made fake guano! Look how the plants are doing!” to “hey, the plants aren’t doing well anymore, no matter how much fertilizer we add” to “let’s do it the old way.” Like a bastion of agricultural science makes an amazing discovery by just basically watching the way traditional cultures have never stopped doing agriculture.
The book also talks about the gut biome, and explained why eating plants, especially fibrous plants, is important. Even though we can’t digest it, the byproducts of the bacteria in our colon that can digest it are beneficial to us. And part of the reason why only eating refined food is bad is the speed it takes to the lower tract and how many sugars are left over afterwards. So I guess I don’t understand it well enough to explain it, (and I finished it a couple of weeks ago) but it was interesting.
So what fun things did I learn from this book? The rhizosphere, the top layer of soil, is an entire ecosystem in which plants, fungi, bacteria, and other organisms interact with each other. It’s easy to disrupt this by adding fertilizer, herbicides, pesticides, anti-fungal, or tillage. The author talked about the western science of agriculture which pretty much went “let’s not do it the old way, let’s try adding guano” to “guano is great, but there isn’t enough of it” to “wow, we made fake guano! Look how the plants are doing!” to “hey, the plants aren’t doing well anymore, no matter how much fertilizer we add” to “let’s do it the old way.” Like a bastion of agricultural science makes an amazing discovery by just basically watching the way traditional cultures have never stopped doing agriculture.
The book also talks about the gut biome, and explained why eating plants, especially fibrous plants, is important. Even though we can’t digest it, the byproducts of the bacteria in our colon that can digest it are beneficial to us. And part of the reason why only eating refined food is bad is the speed it takes to the lower tract and how many sugars are left over afterwards. So I guess I don’t understand it well enough to explain it, (and I finished it a couple of weeks ago) but it was interesting.
October 26, 2024
I first heard one of the authors interviewed on the 10000 HOURS OUTSIDE podcast which sparked my interest in this book and it met my expectations.
As an (amateur) gardener, I liked the insight into our soil, what we have done to the soil through modern farming practices, and the practices we should get back to. I would have appreciated a more step-by-step guide on how to apply this in our own personal gardens as there is a growing wave of homesteading that is becoming popular. I think this would then appeal to an even broader audience.
I also was very interested in the microbiology of our human bodies, but the science could go over my head at times. I had to reread a number of sections in order to get the gist of what the author was saying, but this section had a more practical guide on how to implement the information in our own lives. At one point, the chapters switched viewpoints which made the reading a little jarring and the flow disruptive and ultimately some of the information became repetitive. This book worked best for me when I read one chapter at a time.
Overall, I got a lot of information from this book that sparked even further interest in some of the topics explored. It makes for a good jumping off point if any aspect of microbiology is fascinating to the reader.
As an (amateur) gardener, I liked the insight into our soil, what we have done to the soil through modern farming practices, and the practices we should get back to. I would have appreciated a more step-by-step guide on how to apply this in our own personal gardens as there is a growing wave of homesteading that is becoming popular. I think this would then appeal to an even broader audience.
I also was very interested in the microbiology of our human bodies, but the science could go over my head at times. I had to reread a number of sections in order to get the gist of what the author was saying, but this section had a more practical guide on how to implement the information in our own lives. At one point, the chapters switched viewpoints which made the reading a little jarring and the flow disruptive and ultimately some of the information became repetitive. This book worked best for me when I read one chapter at a time.
Overall, I got a lot of information from this book that sparked even further interest in some of the topics explored. It makes for a good jumping off point if any aspect of microbiology is fascinating to the reader.
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