Your body has 100 trillion cells, but only 10 trillion are human. The rest belong to the bacteria, fungi, viruses, and parasites that live on or in us. Some of these tenants are actually beneficial, aiding in the digestion process, for example. The majority of them neither help nor hurt us, but simply coexist with us. A few species, however, from the cholera bacilli to tapeworms and lice, can be dangerous, and sometimes deadly.
In Human Wildlife, Dr. Robert Buckman takes readers on a safari through the human body, pointing out the long-term residents, the itinerant visitors, the irritating vandals, and the ruthless invaders, carefully distinguishing between helpful friends, harmless acquaintances, and lethal foes. By turns funny, amazing, and alarming, Human Wildlife is an endlessly fascinating journey through our own private biospheres.
Along the way, we learn that one-third of the human race is allergic to dust mite feces; that bad breath is caused by bacteria living on the back of our tongues which release sulfur from the protein we eat; that live maggots are being successfully used to treat drug-resistant infections; that fresh sweat is odorless (the smell results from the activity of armpit bacteria); and that the average kitchen cutting board has more bacteria than the top of a toilet seat. Accompanied by stunning, full-color and high-magnification images of these myriad organisms, Dr. Buckman's informative and engrossing text is leavened with a delightful sense of humor.

Customer Reviews:

Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 / 5.0

Could be better...:

Photos are beautiful, and the text is interesting, but could be much more informative. I dislike the writing style: too much jokes, too much funny story, that are annoying.

4.5 Stars for the Ultimate Gross Out Coffee-Table Book:

I read the 2003 paperback edition of the originally 2002 book.
Parasites, benign bacteria, human smells, suspicious hygiene issues, body horrors: This is the coffee-table book, "beautifully" pictured, which will dampen your appetite for coffee. (Where has that coffee cup been cleaned? Hopefully not in the kitchen sink!) Contemporarily, the general public is displaying serious lacks in education in the above essential topics. Count me in. After that easy to read and at times tremendously funny book I... more info

So Close to Five Stars:

The other reviews of this book already give you more than enough information to make an educated purchasing choice. I will instead give you a "reader response" criticism.
I enjoyed "Human Wildlife". The writing style is great and the illustrations are wonderful. The only problem I encountered was that the occasional misspelled word distracted from the flow of the narrative.
Hopefully in the next edition the editor will run a spell checker.
Otherwise, this was a fun book.

A really great book for older kids!:

This is the second review I have written for this book. The first somehow disappeared so now I will try again. My child was doing a presentation at his school and needed resources. I found this at a library. He could not put it down. I skimmed through it and was very impressed. So I bought it. The photographs are fantastic, the wording is very educational and quite hilarious, and there was so much information that, had there not been a 3 book minimum on the bibliography, this would have been the only one he... more info

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