Author(s): Paul G. Falkowski

Science

For almost four billion years, microbes had the primordial oceans all to themselves. The stewards of Earth, these organisms, transformed the chemistry of our planet to make it habitable for plants, animals, and us. Paul Falkowski takes leaders deep into the microscopic world to explore how these marvelous creatures made life an Earth possible-and how human life today would cease to exist without them. He looks under the hood of microbes to find the working parts that do the biochemical heavy lifting for every living organisms on the planet, and issues a timely warning about the dangers of tinkering with that machinery to make it more "efficient" at meeting the ever-growing demands of humans. A vibrantly entertaining book about the microbes that support our very existence, Life's Engines will inspire wonder about these elegantly complex nanomachines that have driven life since its origin.