What do you think?
Rate this book
Micro Life: Miracles of the Miniature World Revealed
Explore the everyday miracle of the microscopic world
With spectacular macro photography and microscope images, this book reveals a hidden, living world full of intricate structures beyond the naked eye. Included are the tiniest insects and spiders; but looking deeper, you will discover truly microscopic creatures--even bacteria and viruses. Earth is home to more microbes, and more different types of microbes, than any other living organism. Bacteria on Earth outweigh humans by 1,100 to 1; and without them, all world ecosystems would collapse. This book reveals this vital, unseen realm, but it includes large life-forms too, in extreme close-up, so that you can wonder at the beauty of a pollen grain, a butterfly egg, the spore of a fungus, and the nerve cell of a human.
The spectacular imagery in Micro Life exploits cutting-edge technology, such as focus-stacked macro photographs, as well as micrographs (microscope images) including scanning electron micrographs. Illustrations nearby explain the science--from the workings of an insect's eye to how a plant breathes through its leaves. The biology builds into a reference on how life works--and how all organisms, however small, solve the basic problems of movement, reproduction, energy, communication, and defense.
Micro Life is a beautiful and surprising look at the natural world.
With spectacular macro photography and microscope images, this book reveals a hidden, living world full of intricate structures beyond the naked eye. Included are the tiniest insects and spiders; but looking deeper, you will discover truly microscopic creatures--even bacteria and viruses. Earth is home to more microbes, and more different types of microbes, than any other living organism. Bacteria on Earth outweigh humans by 1,100 to 1; and without them, all world ecosystems would collapse. This book reveals this vital, unseen realm, but it includes large life-forms too, in extreme close-up, so that you can wonder at the beauty of a pollen grain, a butterfly egg, the spore of a fungus, and the nerve cell of a human.
The spectacular imagery in Micro Life exploits cutting-edge technology, such as focus-stacked macro photographs, as well as micrographs (microscope images) including scanning electron micrographs. Illustrations nearby explain the science--from the workings of an insect's eye to how a plant breathes through its leaves. The biology builds into a reference on how life works--and how all organisms, however small, solve the basic problems of movement, reproduction, energy, communication, and defense.
Micro Life is a beautiful and surprising look at the natural world.
416 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 2021
40 people are currently reading
335 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
November 13, 2022
Dieses Review bezieht sich auf die deutsche Version (ISBN: 3831044562). Leider schafft es Goodreads derzeit nicht, die fremdsprachigen Editionen den Originalen zuzuordnen.
Kleines ganz groß. Klingt etwas platt, ist aber über aller Maßen für das Buch „Mikrokosmos“ zutreffend. In einer unglaublichen Vielfalt wird die für uns normalerweise verborgene Welt näher gebracht. Der „Mikrokosmos“ wird dem Leser nicht nur als besonderes Bilder- oder Fotobuch präsentiert, sondern thematisch sortiert. Insgesamt acht Themengebiete gibt es, die tiefer in die Materie einsteigen.
Dass es kein simples Fotobuch ist, zeigen die Erklärungen. Unseren älteren Kindern konnte ich an vielen Stellen zeigen, dass die Biologie aus der Schule in diesem Buch sehr beeindruckend veranschaulicht wird. Ein Umstand, der Wissen vertieft, wenn anhand von Einzellern gezeigt, wie eine Zelle aufgebaut ist, an optisch sichtbaren Muskeln deren Funktion erklärt wird oder wenn die Funktion des Ohrs mit einer mikroskopischen Aufnahme gezeigt wird. Die Erklärungen zu den Funktionen und Themengebieten sind teils sehr wissenschaftlich und nicht kindgerecht formuliert. Teilweise ist es notwendig, dass auch kundigere Leser bestimmte Begriffe nachschlagen müssen. Die Texte werden dabei immer kurz und knapp gehalten, was ich persönlich sehr gut finde, denn mit einer wissenschaftlichen Abhandlung wäre ich mir nicht gedient.
Obwohl der Mikrokosmos nicht als Fotobuch präsentiert wird, so spielen die Fotos in diesem Buch eine sehr entscheidende Rolle. Schon zu Beginn des Buch werden die Maßstäbe des Kosmos und die Arten der Mikroskopie erklärt, die in diesem Buch Anwendung finden. Der Leser darf den Mikrokosmos nicht mit dem Makrofotografie verwechseln, denn die Vergrößerungen sind deutlich größer als mit einer „simplen“ Spiegelreflexkamera möglich ist.
Die Fotos und der Detailgrad samt Schärfe sind durchgehend auf hohem Niveau und überaus beeindruckend. Es ist erstaunlich, in welch winzigen oder gar winzigsten Maßstäben sich Lebensformen entwickelt haben, die überaus komplex und vielfältig sind. Allein die Strukturen sind unglaublich verzweigt und teilweise überbordend. Es gibt quasi keine Seite in diesem Buch, auf der nicht ein beeindruckendes Detail zu sehen ist.
Fazit
Die Paarung von beeindruckenden Fotos mit teils sehr wissenschaftlichen Beschreibungen des Gezeigten ist überaus beeindruckend. Es ist erstaunlich, was sich vor unseren Augen abspielt, ohne dass wir nur einen Hauch einer Ahnung davon haben. Die Formen, Strukturen und Funktionen der Lebewesen in diesem Mikrokosmos sind beeindruckend und werden durch dieses Buch dem Leser ebenso gezeigt. Nämlich beeindruckend. Ich kann mir nicht vorstellen, dass es einen Leser gibt, der von diesem Buch nicht beeindruckt ist.
Kleines ganz groß. Klingt etwas platt, ist aber über aller Maßen für das Buch „Mikrokosmos“ zutreffend. In einer unglaublichen Vielfalt wird die für uns normalerweise verborgene Welt näher gebracht. Der „Mikrokosmos“ wird dem Leser nicht nur als besonderes Bilder- oder Fotobuch präsentiert, sondern thematisch sortiert. Insgesamt acht Themengebiete gibt es, die tiefer in die Materie einsteigen.
Dass es kein simples Fotobuch ist, zeigen die Erklärungen. Unseren älteren Kindern konnte ich an vielen Stellen zeigen, dass die Biologie aus der Schule in diesem Buch sehr beeindruckend veranschaulicht wird. Ein Umstand, der Wissen vertieft, wenn anhand von Einzellern gezeigt, wie eine Zelle aufgebaut ist, an optisch sichtbaren Muskeln deren Funktion erklärt wird oder wenn die Funktion des Ohrs mit einer mikroskopischen Aufnahme gezeigt wird. Die Erklärungen zu den Funktionen und Themengebieten sind teils sehr wissenschaftlich und nicht kindgerecht formuliert. Teilweise ist es notwendig, dass auch kundigere Leser bestimmte Begriffe nachschlagen müssen. Die Texte werden dabei immer kurz und knapp gehalten, was ich persönlich sehr gut finde, denn mit einer wissenschaftlichen Abhandlung wäre ich mir nicht gedient.
Obwohl der Mikrokosmos nicht als Fotobuch präsentiert wird, so spielen die Fotos in diesem Buch eine sehr entscheidende Rolle. Schon zu Beginn des Buch werden die Maßstäbe des Kosmos und die Arten der Mikroskopie erklärt, die in diesem Buch Anwendung finden. Der Leser darf den Mikrokosmos nicht mit dem Makrofotografie verwechseln, denn die Vergrößerungen sind deutlich größer als mit einer „simplen“ Spiegelreflexkamera möglich ist.
Die Fotos und der Detailgrad samt Schärfe sind durchgehend auf hohem Niveau und überaus beeindruckend. Es ist erstaunlich, in welch winzigen oder gar winzigsten Maßstäben sich Lebensformen entwickelt haben, die überaus komplex und vielfältig sind. Allein die Strukturen sind unglaublich verzweigt und teilweise überbordend. Es gibt quasi keine Seite in diesem Buch, auf der nicht ein beeindruckendes Detail zu sehen ist.
Fazit
Die Paarung von beeindruckenden Fotos mit teils sehr wissenschaftlichen Beschreibungen des Gezeigten ist überaus beeindruckend. Es ist erstaunlich, was sich vor unseren Augen abspielt, ohne dass wir nur einen Hauch einer Ahnung davon haben. Die Formen, Strukturen und Funktionen der Lebewesen in diesem Mikrokosmos sind beeindruckend und werden durch dieses Buch dem Leser ebenso gezeigt. Nämlich beeindruckend. Ich kann mir nicht vorstellen, dass es einen Leser gibt, der von diesem Buch nicht beeindruckt ist.
May 13, 2025
This is a very interesting book for it covers life so small few care to look at it which is very appreciated. It is divided into 10 sections. First is a brief introduction that does a good enough job at introducing the book's thesis. Then chapter 1 "Getting Nourishment" covers the various ways microorganisms get food either by eating others, photosynthesizing their own food, some that can do both depending on the situation or doing their own unusual things like generating energy from chemicals. Then chapter 2 "Powering the body" goes over how these small guys regulate their bodies. Chapter 3 discusses their various sense both familiar and odd. The self explanatory chapter 4 "Moving discusses how they move. "Supporting and Protecting" chapter 5 goes over their exoskeletons and support structures. All of this is illustrated by beautiful amazing pictures.
Chapter 6 "reproducing" discusses how the various animals reproduces both sexually and asexually. Chapter 7 discusses how they mature and grow. Then chapter 8 discusses the various extreme places these critters can be found. The last part consists of a brief recounting of the taxa seen in the book which is where my only issues with the book show up and it relates to what gets represented and what does not.
For one mammals, birds, reptiles, bony fish and amphibians gets represented despite only their smallest members even barely qualify as microfauna. It includes Jawless fish, horseshoe crabs, crinoids, and cartilaginous that frankly lack microfauna representatives in their entirety. With several groups like echinoderms (all of its classed represented), sea squirts, insects, and myriapods they show random animals not the smallest of them. There are also several notable absences starting with the Myriapoda the Pauropoda are completely absent despite being a perfect inclusion, Arachnida doesn't have the Palpigradi, Schizomida, or the Ricinulei. It also treats Acari (The group that includes ticks and mites) as a monophyletic group when that's no longer thought to be true and instead are several different groups united by small size. Amongst the insects there were more notable absences include Zoraptera also called the angel insects. It also left out several non insect hexapods like Protura and Diplura. Even worse were entire kingdoms of animals left out despite being excellent to include; Cycliophora, Dicyemida, Entoprocta, Gnathostomulid, Loricifera, Micrognathozoa, Nematomorpha, Orthonectida, and Phoronida.
Overall this is a decent book at introducing the smaller side of the tree of life but does have some questionable decisions that prevent it from being perfect
Chapter 6 "reproducing" discusses how the various animals reproduces both sexually and asexually. Chapter 7 discusses how they mature and grow. Then chapter 8 discusses the various extreme places these critters can be found. The last part consists of a brief recounting of the taxa seen in the book which is where my only issues with the book show up and it relates to what gets represented and what does not.
For one mammals, birds, reptiles, bony fish and amphibians gets represented despite only their smallest members even barely qualify as microfauna. It includes Jawless fish, horseshoe crabs, crinoids, and cartilaginous that frankly lack microfauna representatives in their entirety. With several groups like echinoderms (all of its classed represented), sea squirts, insects, and myriapods they show random animals not the smallest of them. There are also several notable absences starting with the Myriapoda the Pauropoda are completely absent despite being a perfect inclusion, Arachnida doesn't have the Palpigradi, Schizomida, or the Ricinulei. It also treats Acari (The group that includes ticks and mites) as a monophyletic group when that's no longer thought to be true and instead are several different groups united by small size. Amongst the insects there were more notable absences include Zoraptera also called the angel insects. It also left out several non insect hexapods like Protura and Diplura. Even worse were entire kingdoms of animals left out despite being excellent to include; Cycliophora, Dicyemida, Entoprocta, Gnathostomulid, Loricifera, Micrognathozoa, Nematomorpha, Orthonectida, and Phoronida.
Overall this is a decent book at introducing the smaller side of the tree of life but does have some questionable decisions that prevent it from being perfect
September 21, 2024
Simply Amazing. This book provides very detailed pictures taken using a variety of microscopes that focus on the micro side of life. What I loved about this book is not only did the authors focus on microbes and other typical organisms only seen via magnification, they also included micro parts of some of the macro life we can easily see with our eyes (like a flies compound eyes, a moths proboscis, or a wasps stinger). They also included a bit about parasites, mutualistic relationships, and life that may occur before our eyes that we may not notice (my favorite was a wasp that reproduces inside a fig). I really enjoyed that the book was broken down into sections, ending with how we classify animals today (a lot of beautiful photos of a variety of animals are included here). Each topic gets two pages and within that is a short description of what is occurring on the page, what specific part of the organism we are looking at, or what relationship is being featured, within that is a very detailed image with short descriptions of important things in the image. Also, on these pages is another example of something similar in another species and/or a small box with similar, but slightly different parts in the species or other species, more details of how the specific part or relationship functions, or in some cases evolutionary graphs of the species in question. I really enjoyed the spotlights of specific organisms that embody the previous topic that was just covered (they are more sparse at the beginning of the book). My only complaint is I wish there were more of these as they were awesome to see and read. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in science, anyone who may be thinking of looking into science as a career, or anyone who is interested in amazing things and figuring out/seeing how the world works.
February 9, 2024
I really liked the subtitle of this book. "Miracles of the Miniature World Revealed"
DK's encyclopedia of animals and plants never disappoints us.
This book will teach us about the world of tiny micro-sized insects.
All living things, including small insects and plants, use energy and moving active within the body.
As the body absorbs nutrients from food, cells divide and build new substances for growth and reproduction.
The chemical reactions caused by breathing in cells cause energy to be released by firing electrical impulses and contracting muscles.
After reading this book, you will realize how cruel it is that we kill small insects on the table by slapping them with magazines lying around.
DK's encyclopedia of animals and plants never disappoints us.
This book will teach us about the world of tiny micro-sized insects.
All living things, including small insects and plants, use energy and moving active within the body.
As the body absorbs nutrients from food, cells divide and build new substances for growth and reproduction.
The chemical reactions caused by breathing in cells cause energy to be released by firing electrical impulses and contracting muscles.
After reading this book, you will realize how cruel it is that we kill small insects on the table by slapping them with magazines lying around.
January 16, 2022
Absolutely stunning photography and informative as well. I can't stop looking at it.
Having been alive for over 60 years, studied and practiced medicine as a Family Nurse Practitioner, raised 3 children on DK eyewitness discovery books and conducting various school science projects-- I have seen a lot of biology books over time. But I have never seen one as beautiful as this one.
Having been alive for over 60 years, studied and practiced medicine as a Family Nurse Practitioner, raised 3 children on DK eyewitness discovery books and conducting various school science projects-- I have seen a lot of biology books over time. But I have never seen one as beautiful as this one.
April 30, 2022
(Skimmed through most of the book)
Amazing micro photographs of organisms and living creatures that you would not be able to depict with your human eyes. The book does go technical on the science behind each organism and how it contributes, good for those that have interest in learning more details. I also have to say some photographs scare me, especially the insects and bugs.
Amazing micro photographs of organisms and living creatures that you would not be able to depict with your human eyes. The book does go technical on the science behind each organism and how it contributes, good for those that have interest in learning more details. I also have to say some photographs scare me, especially the insects and bugs.
February 28, 2022
Large coffee-table style book that I checked out from JCPL and looked at the photographs (which were amazing) but I didn't read much of the text. Skimmed over it quickly...
The photos are like works of modern art and I like the idea of the tiny world made huge.
The photos are like works of modern art and I like the idea of the tiny world made huge.
Read
May 27, 2025Even though I became an English teacher, I was a science major and will always be a science nerd. This book was utterly fascinating. I had to do a lot of zooming in and out since I bought the ebook, but it was worth the hassle.
December 31, 2025
It one of those books who you can't stop reading because it's just explaining everything top notch, as a Persian guy who is 16 years old it's still hard for me to understand some parts of it and that's the only disadvantage but the pictures are so gorgeous and well made.
February 18, 2022
Amazing photos!
June 29, 2022
Not for the faint of heart.
October 15, 2023
Beautiful Book
Simplified explanations with great photos make this a great survey over everything you wanted to know about tiny life. Really enjoyed the format.
Simplified explanations with great photos make this a great survey over everything you wanted to know about tiny life. Really enjoyed the format.
February 16, 2024
Incredible. God’s sovereignty on the microscopic scale. Such beauty in what we can’t see!
January 4, 2022
This book held lots of information and gave me ideas as to what to look into more in depth as well. The pictures were gorgeous, even if bunches of them gave me the heebeejeebees, like the lice or mites. Felt like I was being crawled on by bugs so I’m off to take a shower after this but I learned a lot and gained foods for thought. I enjoyed it.
July 16, 2022
Informative and beautifully done, but boy did it give me the heebie jeebies.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews