Never home alone : from microbes to millipedes, camel crickets, and honeybees, the natural history of where we live

Author

Rob R Dunn

Call Number

• 570 D9236 (CEN, OSH)

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Edition

First edition.

Publication Information

New York, NY : Basic Books, [2018]

Physical Description

vii, 323 pages : illustrations, maps ; 25 cm

Summary

A natural history of the wilderness in our homes, from the microbes in our showers to the crickets in our basements.

"Picture this: after a long week, you finally have the house to yourself. As you settle into the couch, something stirs--a mouse darts out from under a cupboard, a fly zips past the window--and you suddenly realize that you're not alone after all. Indeed, our homes are buzzing with life, but aside from the pursuit of better pest control, we've had only the barest understanding of it. That is why Rob Dunn and his team decided to take a closer look. In [this book], Dunn reveals that our domestic domain, far from peaceful, is wild beyond imagination. From the Indian meal moths in the cupboard to the camel crickets living in the basement to the antibiotic-resistant Staphylococcus waiting on the kitchen counter, every house is a wilderness brimming with thousands of species of insects, bacteria, fungi, and plants that live literally under our noses. To regain control over our critter-filled quarters, we fight back by obsessively sterilizing our homes. However, in doing so, we are unwittingly cultivating an entirely new playground for evolution, enabling deadly bacteria to thrive instead of species that help our immune systems and add flavor to foods like beer, sourdough bread, and kimchi. The 'healthier' we try to make our homes, the more likely we are to put our own health at risk. A rich natural history and a thrilling scientific investigation, Never Home Alone shows us that if we wish to thrive in our homes, we must welcome the unknown guests that have been there the whole time."--Dust jacket.

Contents

• Prologue: Homo indoorus
• Wonder
• The hot spring in the basement
• Seeing in the dark
• Absence as a disease
• Bathing in a stream of life
• The problem with abundance
• The far sighted ecologist
• What good is a camel cricket?
• The problem with cockroaches is us
• Look what the cat dragged in
• Gardening the bodies of babies
• The flavor of biodiversity.