I Contain Multitudes

Ed Yong, 2016

Every animal is a teeming mass of microbes. From squid and aphids to coral reefs and hospitals, discover how these partners build bodies, shape health and can be harnessed.

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11 parts, about 27 minutes to read.

Why read it

Shows that every animal, including you, is a partnership with microbes that shape its body, immunity and even behavior
Replaces the idea of good and bad germs with a picture of shifting alliances you can see in your gut, home and hospital
Carries you into labs and field sites, from glowing squid to coral reefs, and flags which early findings may be wrong

Who it is for

Readers who still think of bacteria mainly as enemies
Patients and parents curious about antibiotics, probiotics and gut health
Nature lovers drawn to strange partnerships between species

What the summary covers

A Trip to the Zoo1 min
Living Islands2 min
The People Who Thought to Look2 min
Body Builders3 min
Terms and Conditions Apply3 min
In Sickness and in Health3 min
The Long Waltz2 min
Mutually Assured Success2 min
Allegro in E Major3 min
Microbes à la Carte4 min
Tomorrow the World2 min

Recommended by

Bill GatesMicrosoft co founder and philanthropist
Yong just keeps imparting one surprising, fascinating insight after the next. I Contain Multitudes is science journalism at its best.
Helen MacdonaldAuthor of H Is for Hawk
Beyond fascinating. An amazing book. It’ll change the way you think about the world. It'll change who you think you are.
Jeff VanderMeerAuthor of the Southern Reach Trilogy
A marvelous book! Ed Yong s brilliant gift for storytelling and precise writing about science converge in I Contain Multitudes to make the invisible and tiny both visible and mighty.
David QuammenAuthor of Spillover and Song of the Dodo
Ed Yong is one of our finest young explainers of science-wicked smart, broadly informed, sly, savvy, so illuminating. And this is an encyclopedia of fascinations.
Elizabeth KolbertAuthor of The Sixth Extinction
Ed Yong has written a riveting account of the microbes that make the world work. I Contain Multitudes will change the way you look at yourself and just about everything else.
Adam RutherfordAuthor of Creation
Ed Yong has done something beautiful, and unlikely: he’s rendered the unseen world of bacteria thrilling, captivating and highly entertaining. This is a much-needed guide to the hidden kingdom that dominates life on Earth. It cuts through all the hype of microbiomes with a scientifically steady hand, but told with an infectious sense of awe.

About the author

Ed YongScience journalist who won the 2021 Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting
- Born on 17 December 1981 in Malaysia
- Immigrated to the UK at 13, in 1994
- MPhil in biochemistry from University College London, 2005
- Joined The Atlantic as a science reporter in September 2015