Product Description

For microbiology and environmental microbiology courses, this leading textbook builds on the academic success of the previous edition by including a comprehensive and up-to-date discussion of environmental microbiology as a discipline that has grown in scope and interest in recent years. From environmental science and microbial ecology to topics in molecular genetics, this edition relates environmental microbiology to the work of a variety of life science, ecology, and environmental science investigators. The authors and editors have taken the care to highlight links between environmental microbiology and topics important to our changing world such as bioterrorism and national security with sections on practical issues such as bioremediation, waterborne pathogens, microbial risk assessment, and environmental biotechnology.

WHY ADOPT THIS EDITION?
New chapters on:
. Urban Environmental Microbiology
. Bacterial Communities in Natural Ecosystems
. Global Change and Microbial Infectious Disease
. Microorganisms and Bioterrorism
. Extreme Environments (emphasizing the ecology of these environments)
. Aquatic Environments (now devoted to its own chapter- was combined with Extreme Environments)

Updates to Methodologies:
. Nucleic Acid -Based Methods: microarrays, phyloarrays, real-time PCR, metagomics, and comparative genomics
. Physiological Methods: stable isotope fingerprinting and functional genomics and proteomics-based approaches
. Microscopic Techniques: FISH (fluorescent in situ hybridization) and atomic force microscopy
. Cultural Methods: new approaches to enhanced cultivation of environmental bacteria
. Environmental Sample Collection and Processing: added section on air sampling

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #246659 in Books
• Published on: 2008-10-03
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 624 pages

Review
"This book... provides a good source of reference of many of the important concepts relating to environmental microbiology... It would be a useful text for undergraduate students with interests in this area of microbiology... The information is well written and presented and is supported by good figures and tables, as well as case studies, which are effectively used to highlight particular issues."
- Microbiology Today -- Review

"This is a good, thorough textbook for environmental microbiologists and students. ...the scope covered by this book is very impressive." -- J.J. Germida for Soil Science, June 2002

Review
"This book... provides a good source of reference of many of the important concepts relating to environmental microbiology... It would be a useful text for undergraduate students with interests in this area of microbiology... The information is well written and presented and is supported by good figures and tables, as well as case studies, which are effectively used to highlight particular issues."
- Microbiology Today

From the Back Cover
The field of environmental microbiology encompasses aspects of several areas of study, including microbial ecology, molecular genetics, and environmental science. Environmental Microbiology is the first book to offer a comprehensive discussion of this field as a discipline, which the authors define as the study of microbial fate and activity in air, water, and soil and the resulting impact on human health and welfare. While the roots of environmental microbiology can be traced to sanitary engineering (water and wastewater treatment), the field has grown to include other practical issues such as bioremediation, the control of known and emerging waterborne pathogens, microbial risk assessment, and environmental biotechnology. Five general areas are emphasized in this text: (i) foundation chapters, (ii) microbial environments, (iii) detection of microbial activity, (iv) the impact of microbial activity on the environment in terms of nutrient cycling and pollutant fate, and (v) detection and control of pathogens in the environment. Designed for courses at senior undergraduate and graduate levels, Environmental Microbiology will also serve as an essential reference for environmental microbiologists, microbial ecologists, and environmental engineers, as well as those interested in epidemiology, water and wastewater treatment, and biotechnology.
Among the Highlights of this State-of-the-Art Textbook:
* Includes foundation chapters for background in biological and earth sciences
* Covers emerging areas such as transport of microbes and DNA, microbial risk assessment, and use of molecular detection in environmental applications
* References key or landmark works without interrupting the flow of text
* Describes the newest analytical and molecular methodologies
* Contains many detailed, full-color graphics to make the text visually stimulating
* Presents numerous "case studies" to emphasize relevance to real-life situations
* Provides study questions at the end of each chapter

Customer Reviews

Just mediocre.
I was anxious to receive this book, since it was praised as one of the best books available in the area of environmental microbiology. After reading through the pages, I just couldn't agree with this statement.
Here are some of the good points of this book: It's written in a fairly easy to understand language and provides a lot of pictures and graphs to illustrate important concepts.
Here are the bad points: It summarizes a lot and leaves out a lot of details and information. Whoever buys this book better know something about biochemistry and microbiology already. The graphs and pictures are sometimes ridiculous and of poor quality, almost like they were done at a home PC.
The book would be best for somebody who is a hobby environmentalist that wants to expand his/her knowledge, or undergraduate students of biology who want to explore the environmental aspect of microbiology out of curiosity. If you are serious about environmental microbiology and really want to get into it on a more professional level, I suggest the "Manual of Environmental Microbiology" 2nd edition, published by the American Society for Microbiology. It's a little more expensive, but worth every penny!

Environmental Microbiology
This is one of the most detailed, interesting, well illustrated books in microbiology that I have ever read. It gets right to the information that someone working in the environmental field needs, all in one place. No more digging around through multiple sources and hunting the internet for the latest information - its all here.

very good
I think you need to improve the packaging of the books. However, I'm giving you 5 stars!!