New paperback edition, now with over forty black and white illustrations, glossary, notes and bibliography, and index. Mmm-mmm, microbes! Although we are accustomed to equating the presence of microbes with disease, in fact, most microbes play a vital "friendly" role in shaping our lives. Microbes are everywhere, and we cannot survive without them. In the course of her eye-opening narrative, Dr. Farrell relates the historical significance of using microbes to preserve foods, our long-standing ambivalence about the microbes that live on and in us, and our j growing understanding of their importance.