Ever since I can think I have been reading books. I just loved getting dragged into someone else’s idea of a good story. Now, with a passion for the microbial world and science in general, I read a lot of books about bacteria and microbes or any book that explains science in a relatable way.
I am fascinated by the impact that these tiny organisms have on our bodies and health, the environment, climate and even food. And I am always amazed by how everything is interconnected; how microbes in the soil can shape the weather and the climate and how microbes in our guts from the food we eat shape both our mental and physical health. Mind-blowing!
With such a huge impact on our lives, microbes even shaped human history, politics, culture and advancement. Due to their integral influence on everything we do, I am convinced that we should all learn more about the fascinating microbes and bacteria all around us.
Sure, this is the main motivation that we write this blog, but there are also great books about microbes that are both educating and entertaining. Here, I want to share my favourite books about microbes and bacteria, written not only to inform but also to make you giggle about what microbes do. I recommend reading any of these microbial books if you’re slightly interested in the microcosmic world or are looking for a present for someone who is.
Disclaimer: some of these links are affiliates and I might make a small profit from your final purchase with no extra costs to you.
I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life by Ed Yong
This book is already a classic in the microbiology literature. In an easy and funny way, Ed tells the reader how microbes affect our daily lives. After a quick introduction into evolution, Ed talks about how microbes impact our bodies, metabolism or defend us from diseases.
Ed further tells us in a light way that you should not consider your body just as it is, but rather as this multi-organism interacting, communicating and exchanging with the microbes in and on it. After reading this book, you might not see your body the same way as before.
This book about the microbial life is great for:
Everyone who wants to read light stories about microbial life and get a first overview of how microbes have always impacted us and keep impacting everything we do.
Deadly Companions: How Microbes Shaped our History by Dorothy H. Crawford
I started reading this book when the Covid19-pandemic started and felt reassured and scared at the same time. In this book, Dorothy talks about several global pandemics in human history, how these shaped our culture and politics and what we could learn from each one of them.
This book makes it clear that by advancing our communities and cultures, we gave microbes the opportunities to spread amongst us. Like this, infectious disease pandemics have always been part of our history and should be no surprise to anybody.
This book about microbial history is great for:
Everyone who is interested in human history and wants to learn more about how microbes have always impacted human life, especially our politics and culture.
Coloured Bacteria from A to Z from BacterialWorld
We, Noémie and Sarah, wrote and illustrated this book to introduce you to 26 different bacteria, one for each letter. You will get to know bacteria from different environments, their colours, superpowers and how they impact your daily life. In the descriptions for each bacterium, the reader will gain a basic understanding of bacterial cells and growth, microbial fermentation and food production, microbes’ impact on sustainability, antibiotics and health.
With hand-drawn illustrations and a final quiz section, both young children and adults can engage in a relaxing activity while learning about the colourful bacterial world. You can choose among different languages and get the book from Amazon or print the sheets yourself as often as you want.
This microbiology colouring book is great for:
Anyone who has a young child and wants them to learn while colouring. We also found lots of adults who enjoy the meditative activity of colouring and for whom this microbiology colouring book might be a thoughtful present.
Joyful Microbiology Activities Ebook by Justine Dees
Even though microbes are all around us, it is often difficult for students to grasp their omnipresence. The Joyful Microbiology Activities book brings microbiology to your home and shows you with well-explained and hands-on experiments where you can find microbes and bacteria.
A bucket list of the different locations to check out and look for microbes as well as a colourful photo atlas with images of lichens, molds and fungi helps students and curious kids get interested in the world of microbes. Justine also prepared follow-up questions and more ideas for projects and exercises, so parents and teachers can take their microbiology activities one step further.
This book about microbiology activities is great for:
Teachers with science classes as these activities are suitable for class experiments and students of multiple ages. Parents who want to awaken microbiology curiosity in their kids.
The Mind-Gut Connection: How the Hidden Conversation Within Our Bodies Impacts Our Mood, Our Choices, and Our Overall Health by Emeran Mayer
Emeran wrote this book for people who are interested in the little details of how microbes impact our bodies. He talks about the molecular communication between gut microbes and the rest of our body and tells the reader what they can do to positively influence this interaction.
From this book, you will also learn what that gut feeling actually is and why sometimes things just feel right or why you have butterflies in your belly when you’re excited or meet a new love. Emeran also explains why a plant-based diet is the right food for your gut microbes and which food additives you should avoid to stay strong, happy and healthy.
This book about gut bacteria is great for:
Everyone who wants to dig deeper into how microbes impact our health, mood and behaviour and wants to learn in detail about how the human body and brain work.
Invisible Friends: How Microbes Shape our Lives and the World around us by Jake Robinson
This book surprised me a little about its content. Expecting another book introducing the world of microbes, this book instead talks from a social science perspective about how microbes touch our lives. I still haven’t understood the storyline and the key message of the book, but hope it will reveal itself as I get to finishing the book.
Books about microbes and what to learn from them
Here you have six books about how microbes shape your health, the environment and even human history. These are written in languages as jargon-free as possible. And when the authors use technical words, they explain exactly what they mean.
Like this, your background doesn’t matter. As long as you’re interested in the microbial world, you will easily follow these books.
Do you have a favourite book about bacteria or microbes? Make sure to share them in the comments below, so that others can learn more about the fascinating microbial world as well!
