Life at the Edge of Sight : A Photographic Exploration of the Microbial World

385 Pages·2017·30.669 MB·English

by  Scott Chimileski, Roberto Kolter

l i f e e d g e o f s i g h t
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l i f e
at t h e
e d g e o f s i g h t
A Photographic Exploration
of the Microbial World
SCOTT CHIMILESKI
ROBERTO KOLTER
the belknap press of harvard university press
Cambridge, Massachusetts & London, England • 2017
Copyright © 2017 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College
All rights reserved
Printed in Italy
First printing
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Names: Chimileski, Scott, author. | Kolter, Roberto, 1953– author.
Title: Life at the edge of sight : a photographic exploration of the microbial
world / Scott Chimileski and Roberto Kolter.
Description: Cambridge, Mas sa chu setts : The Belknap Press of Harvard
University Press, 2017. | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017019203 | ISBN 9780674975910 (alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Microorganisms. | Microorganisms— Pictorial works. | LCGFT: Photobooks.
Classification: LCC QR54 .C45 2017 | DDC 579.022/2— dc23 LC rec ord available at
https:// lccn . loc. g ov / 2017019203
Jacket photograph: Looking out to Grand Prismatic Spring at Yellowstone National Park. Jacket
photograph by Scott Chimileski.
Jacket design: Lisa Roberts
CONTENTS
Foreword by Elio Schaechter vii
Preface ix
1 From an Ancient Chalk Graveyard 1
2 To the Heartbeat of Earth 31
3 Under Celia Thaxter’s Garden 75
4 Intelligent Slime 115
5 Tales of Symbiosis 147
6 On the Kitchen C ounter 175
7 There Is Life at the Edge of Sight 205
How to Photo graph Microbes 239
Glossary 259
Further Reading 291
Acknowl edgments 319
Image Information and Credits 323
Index 363

FOREWORD
Elio Schaechter
CONTEMPLATING THE MICROBIAL WORLD requires us to reboot our brains. How
else can we deal with its numerous tiny members, numbering well over 10 fol-
lowed by 30 zeroes? Or with the bewildering variety of their genomes— well into
the millions? When considering what microbes do, it’s easier to ask what they
don’t do. They have transformed this planet— its geology, its atmosphere, and its
climate. They are essential to life and to its evolution. This is indubitably the
planet of the microbes, and we would do well to recognize it. If we think of mi-
crobes at all, we usually think of them as “germs.” Germs do indeed cause dis-
ease, but assigning to pathogenic microbes a major role in human affairs is as
anthropocentric as believing that Earth is the center of the universe.
No single book can do justice to the vastness of microbial experience. But it
can act as an ambassador, sharing stories that illuminate that other wise unseen
world. This is what readers will find h ere. The authors’ grand tour introduces
readers to microbes with engaging tales, each introducing a foundational con-
cept or two.
The authors come to the task with diff er ent experiences: one is a well-
known researcher and teacher whose highly significant contributions have
spanned the world of microbes, the other a younger member of the profession
with a true passion and skill for sharing his field with the general public. To-
gether, they have found a delightful voice with which to pres ent their approach
to this sometimes astonishing and always captivating world.
vii

PREFACE
LIFE ON EARTH HAD ITS ORIGINS about four billion years ago. The early life-forms
were most certainly microbes— far too small to see with the naked eye. For three
billion years, microbes reigned supreme on the planet. During this time they
evolved to adapt to the cooling Earth’s emerging environments and began their
colonization of virtually e very corner of what t oday we call the biosphere. Mi-
crobes made that biosphere. In doing so, they not only achieved unimaginable
levels of species diversity but shaped the very Earth they were colonizing. They
made and broke rocks, gave rise to the oxygen in the atmosphere, and partici-
pated in many other geological pro cesses. Large organisms— the plants and
animals— did not begin to populate the planet until about 500 million years
ago, during the Cambrian explosion. Our own human evolution took place in
environments where we were constantly surrounded by microbes. Not only
did microbes shape our evolution, we in turn s haped their evolution. From the
outset, animal life formed intimate symbioses with the microbes surrounding
them. The microbes evolved to adapt to the new environments afforded by t hese
newly emerging large organisms.
Part of what makes us human is our long rec ord of domesticating species
to our benefit. We tend to think of the domestication of plants and animals as
a key development in the establishment of civilization. The domestication of
microbes to produce diverse foods and beverages— which we consume to this
day— likely began even earlier and has been equally impor tant in our history. For
the most part, however, microbes escaped our notice b ecause they are so small.
Even though the interaction of h umans with microbes has driven our evolution,
it was not u ntil relatively recently that we recognized the existence of microbes
as living entities.
ix