It's a Book!

by Merry Youle
 

Well over two years ago, through this blog I had the opportunity to edit a research paper for Forest Rohwer. One thing led to another, and we then spent the better part of two years writing a book together — the first book for either of us. Coral Reefs in the Microbial Seas is now published! It is a relatively small book written for a broad audience. Minimal science background is required, even though we weave together concepts from many scientific disciplines as we discuss how coral reefs work and what might be ailing them today. And, of course, the microbes are front and center. There is a bit of metagenomics, some epidemiology, an ode to the microbial members of the coral holobiont, the effects of rising atmospheric CO₂ on the oceans, fish farming in the Gulf of Aqaba, and on and on, all spiced with playful stories from Forest's research expeditions and illustrations by Derek Vosten, sculptor and tattoo artist. Forest has been studying coral reefs for nearly a decade, and has ~25 coral-related research papers and book chapters to his credit.
 

To sample the book, visit our book page at Amazon and use "look inside this book." Or click here to download a book excerpt (1.5 Megs) that includes the Table of Contents, Preface, Introduction, two of the anecdotal stories, and more. You are welcome to distribute the excerpt to others, make it available on your blog, etc. And then please do let me know what you think.

 
 

 
 

Comments

[Karen M. Garrison]

Hello Merry,

Just read your blog - I pre-ordered Coral Reefs a week or so ago and it arrived on Friday last week - started reading it last night and think it's a great book and very clearly written for the non-biologist like myself!

And I can relate to the playful stories as I used to work in the physical oceanography lab here at UNH and participated in many research cruises in the Gulf of Maine and off Brazil - we even had a biologist or two on some of our cruises ;-)

Keep up the good work,
Karen