The Germ Code

The Germ Code PDF Author: Jason Tetro
Publisher: Doubleday Canada
ISBN: 0385678533
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 274

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Book Description
Since the dawn of the human race, germs have been making us sick. Whether the ailment is a cold, the flu, diabetes, obesity or certain cancers, the likely cause is germs. Our ancient enemies have four families - bacteria, viruses, fungi, and protozoa - and many names: Ebola, E. coli, salmonella, norovirus, gonorrhea. . . Human beings are engaged in a "war on germs," in which we develop ever-more sophisticated weapons and defensive strategies. But it is a war we can never win. Our best plan for staying as healthy is to choose our battles carefully, and try to co-exist with germs as best we can. The Germ Code is a wise, witty and wonderfully readable guide to our relationship with these infinitesimal but infinitely powerful creatures. Microbiologist Jason Tetro takes us outside the lab and shows the enormous influence of germs upon humanity's past, present and future. He unlocks the mysteries of "the germ code" to reveal how these organisms have exploited our every activity and colonized every corner of the earth. From his own research and personal experience, Tetro relates how the most recent flu pandemic happened, how others may have been averted and how more may come about if we aren't careful. He also explains that not every germ is our foe, and offers advice on harnessing the power of good germs to stay healthy and make our planet a better place. The Germ Code is a fascinating journey through an unseen world, an essential manual to living in harmony with germs and a life-enhancing (as well as life-saving!) good read.

The Germ Code

The Germ Code PDF Author: Jason Tetro
Publisher: Doubleday Canada
ISBN: 0385678533
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 274

Get Book Here

Book Description
Since the dawn of the human race, germs have been making us sick. Whether the ailment is a cold, the flu, diabetes, obesity or certain cancers, the likely cause is germs. Our ancient enemies have four families - bacteria, viruses, fungi, and protozoa - and many names: Ebola, E. coli, salmonella, norovirus, gonorrhea. . . Human beings are engaged in a "war on germs," in which we develop ever-more sophisticated weapons and defensive strategies. But it is a war we can never win. Our best plan for staying as healthy is to choose our battles carefully, and try to co-exist with germs as best we can. The Germ Code is a wise, witty and wonderfully readable guide to our relationship with these infinitesimal but infinitely powerful creatures. Microbiologist Jason Tetro takes us outside the lab and shows the enormous influence of germs upon humanity's past, present and future. He unlocks the mysteries of "the germ code" to reveal how these organisms have exploited our every activity and colonized every corner of the earth. From his own research and personal experience, Tetro relates how the most recent flu pandemic happened, how others may have been averted and how more may come about if we aren't careful. He also explains that not every germ is our foe, and offers advice on harnessing the power of good germs to stay healthy and make our planet a better place. The Germ Code is a fascinating journey through an unseen world, an essential manual to living in harmony with germs and a life-enhancing (as well as life-saving!) good read.

The Germ Files

The Germ Files PDF Author: Jason Tetro
Publisher: Doubleday Canada
ISBN: 0385685777
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 290

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Book Description
SOME GERMS ARE OUT TO GET US. . . . But we shouldn’t let a delinquent, pathogenic minority taint our view of the other 99.9 per cent. The microbes living on and inside us outnumber the cells in our bodies three to one. Many provide services on which our well-being, our moods, our very lives depend. They help to digest our food and operate the immune system. They trade information about potential mates when we kiss. They alert the brain to problems in different locations around the body. The balance of their populations in our gut is a crucial factor in our physical and mental health. The effect of germs on our lives is not, however, a one-way street. We can help their efforts by the way we lead our lives. The Germ Files is a one-stop source of the most up-to-date, life-changing information on our relationship with microbes, presented in concise and highly readable items grouped by theme. Areas covered include health, hygiene, sex, childcare, nutrition and dieting. The Germ Files will answer your questions about everything from preventing flu to selecting probiotics, while constantly surprising you with revelations about the miraculous workings of the microscopic world.

Germs

Germs PDF Author: Judith Miller
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1439128154
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 420

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Book Description
In this “engrossing, well-documented, and highly readable” (San Francisco Chronicle) New York Times bestseller, three veteran reporters draw on top sources inside and outside the U.S. government to reveal Washington's secret strategies for combating germ warfare and the deadly threat of biological and chemical weapons. Today Americans have begun to grapple with two difficult truths: that there is no terrorist threat more horrifying—and less understood—than germ warfare, and that it would take very little to mount a devastating attack on American soil. Featuring an inside look at how germ warfare has been waged throughout history and what form its future might take (and in whose hands), Germs reads like a gripping detective story told by fascinating key figures: American and Soviet medical specialists who once made germ weapons but now fight their spread, FBI agents who track Islamic radicals, the Iraqis who built Saddam Hussein's secret arsenal, spies who travel the world collecting lethal microbes, and scientists who see ominous developments on the horizon. With clear scientific explanations and harrowing insights, Germs is a vivid, masterfully written—and timely—work of investigative journalism.

The Secret Life of Germs

The Secret Life of Germs PDF Author: Philip M. Tierno
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 9780743421881
Category : Health & Fitness
Languages : en
Pages : 324

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Book Description
Traces the history of germs, discussing how germs have been viewed and treated throughout time and explains why germs now pose an even greater risk to mankind than ever before.

Germs

Germs PDF Author: Lesa Cline-Ransome
Publisher: Henry Holt and Company (BYR)
ISBN: 1250148774
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 40

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Book Description
Come meet the good, the bad, and the ugly—yes, germs! There’s so much to discover about germs. Did you know that germs make your stomach growl as they break down your food? Or that they can travel the world on anything from fleas and ticks to trains and buses? Told from the perspective of Sam the Salmonella, this informative picture book introduces young readers to helpful and harmful germs, exploring their discovery; the breakout of historic diseases; the invention of pasteurization, vaccination, and penicillin; and other fascinating details about the world of microscopic organisms. A Christy Ottaviano Book

The Gospel of Germs

The Gospel of Germs PDF Author: Nancy Tomes
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674257146
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 388

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Book Description
AIDS. Ebola. "Killer microbes." All around us the alarms are going off, warning of the danger of new, deadly diseases. And yet, as Nancy Tomes reminds us in her absorbing book, this is really nothing new. A remarkable work of medical and cultural history, The Gospel of Germs takes us back to the first great "germ panic" in American history, which peaked in the early 1900s, to explore the origins of our modern disease consciousness. Little more than a hundred years ago, ordinary Americans had no idea that many deadly ailments were the work of microorganisms, let alone that their own behavior spread such diseases. The Gospel of Germs shows how the revolutionary findings of late nineteenth-century bacteriology made their way from the laboratory to the lavatory and kitchen, with public health reformers spreading the word and women taking up the battle on the domestic front. Drawing on a wealth of advice books, patent applications, advertisements, and oral histories, Tomes traces the new awareness of the microbe as it radiated outward from middle-class homes into the world of American business and crossed the lines of class, gender, ethnicity, and race. Just as we take some of the weapons in this germ war for granted--fixtures as familiar as the white porcelain toilet, the window screen, the refrigerator, and the vacuum cleaner--so we rarely think of the drastic measures deployed against disease in the dangerous old days before antibiotics. But, as Tomes notes, many of the hygiene rules first popularized in those days remain the foundation of infectious disease control today. Her work offers a timely look into the history of our long-standing obsession with germs, its impact on twentieth-century culture and society, and its troubling new relevance to our own lives.

The New Killer Diseases

The New Killer Diseases PDF Author: Elinor Levy
Publisher: Broadway Books
ISBN: 1400052750
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 370

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Book Description
A renowned immunologist alerts readers to the growing threat of mutant germs that are everywhere and seem to be building resistance to traditional medicines and the lack of new antibiotics and drugs to treat these emerging diseases. Reprint. 15,000 first printing.

The Great Stink of Paris and the Nineteenth-Century Struggle against Filth and Germs

The Great Stink of Paris and the Nineteenth-Century Struggle against Filth and Germs PDF Author: David S. Barnes
Publisher: JHU Press
ISBN: 0801888735
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 500

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Book Description
The scientific and social history surrounding the 1880 incident of a foul odor in Paris and the development of public health culture that followed. Late in the summer of 1880, a wave of odors enveloped large portions of Paris. As the stench lingered, outraged residents feared that the foul air would breed an epidemic. Fifteen years later—when the City of Light was in the grips of another Great Stink—the public conversation about health and disease had changed dramatically. Parisians held their noses and protested, but this time few feared that the odors would spread disease. Historian David S. Barnes examines the birth of a new microbe-centered science of public health during the 1880s and 1890s, when the germ theory of disease burst into public consciousness. Tracing a series of developments in French science, medicine, politics, and culture, Barnes reveals how the science and practice of public health changed during the heyday of the Bacteriological Revolution. Despite its many innovations, however, the new science of germs did not entirely sweep away the older “sanitarian” view of public health. The longstanding conviction that disease could be traced to filthy people, places, and substances remained strong, even as it was translated into the language of bacteriology. Ultimately, the attitudes of physicians and the French public were shaped by political struggles between republicans and the clergy, by aggressive efforts to educate and “civilize” the peasantry, and by long-term shifts in the public’s ability to tolerate the odor of bodily substances. “A well-developed study in medically related social history, it tells an intriguing tale and prompts us to ask how our own cultural contexts affect our views and actions regarding environmental and infectious scourges here and now.” —New England Journal of Medicine “Both a captivating story and a sophisticated historical study. Kudos to Barnes for this valuable and insightful book that both physicians and historians will enjoy.” —Journal of the American Medical Association

Ratio

Ratio PDF Author: Michael Ruhlman
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1416566120
Category : Cooking
Languages : en
Pages : 307

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Book Description
Michael Ruhlman’s groundbreaking New York Times bestseller takes us to the very “truth” of cooking: it is not about recipes but rather about basic ratios and fundamental techniques that makes all food come together, simply. When you know a culinary ratio, it’s not like knowing a single recipe, it’s instantly knowing a thousand. Why spend time sorting through the millions of cookie recipes available in books, magazines, and on the Internet? Isn’t it easier just to remember 1-2-3? That’s the ratio of ingredients that always make a basic, delicious cookie dough: 1 part sugar, 2 parts fat, and 3 parts flour. From there, add anything you want—chocolate, lemon and orange zest, nuts, poppy seeds, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, almond extract, or peanut butter, to name a few favorite additions. Replace white sugar with brown for a darker, chewier cookie. Add baking powder and/or eggs for a lighter, airier texture. Ratios are the starting point from which a thousand variations begin. Ratios are the simple proportions of one ingredient to another. Biscuit dough is 3:1:2—or 3 parts flour, 1 part fat, and 2 parts liquid. This ratio is the beginning of many variations, and because the biscuit takes sweet and savory flavors with equal grace, you can top it with whipped cream and strawberries or sausage gravy. Vinaigrette is 3:1, or 3 parts oil to 1 part vinegar, and is one of the most useful sauces imaginable, giving everything from grilled meats and fish to steamed vegetables or lettuces intense flavor. Cooking with ratios will unchain you from recipes and set you free. With thirty-three ratios and suggestions for enticing variations, Ratio is the truth of cooking: basic preparations that teach us how the fundamental ingredients of the kitchen—water, flour, butter and oils, milk and cream, and eggs—work. Change the ratio and bread dough becomes pasta dough, cakes become muffins become popovers become crepes. As the culinary world fills up with overly complicated recipes and never-ending ingredient lists, Michael Ruhlman blasts through the surplus of information and delivers this innovative, straightforward book that cuts to the core of cooking. Ratio provides one of the greatest kitchen lessons there is—and it makes the cooking easier and more satisfying than ever.

Follow Your Gut

Follow Your Gut PDF Author: Rob Knight
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1476784752
Category : Health & Fitness
Languages : en
Pages : 128

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Book Description
Allergies, asthma, obesity, acne: these are just a few of the conditions that may be caused—and someday cured—by the microscopic life inside us. The key is to understand how this groundbreaking science influences your health, mood, and more. In just the last few years, scientists have shown how the microscopic life within our bodies— particularly within our intestines—has an astonishing impact on our lives. Your health, mood, sleep patterns, eating preferences—even your likelihood of getting bitten by mosquitoes—can be traced in part to the tiny creatures that live on and inside of us. In Follow Your Gut, pioneering scientist Rob Knight pairs with award-winning science journalist Brendan Buhler to explain—with good humor and easy-to-grasp examples—why these new findings matter to everyone. They lead a detailed tour of the previously unseen world inside our bodies, calling out the diseases and conditions believed to be most directly impacted by them. With a practical eye toward deeper knowledge and better decisions, they also explore the known effects of antibiotics, probiotics, diet choice and even birth method on our children’s lifelong health. Ultimately, this pioneering book explains how to learn about your own microbiome and take steps toward understanding and improving your health, using the latest research as a guide.