The Hidden Half of Nature

The Microbial Roots of Life and Health

By: David R. Montgomery, Anne Bikle

Narrated by: LJ Ganser

Length: 10 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's summary

A riveting exploration of how microbes are transforming the way we see nature and ourselves - and could revolutionize agriculture and medicine.

Prepare to set aside what you think you know about yourself and microbes. Good health - for people and for plants - depends on Earth's smallest creatures. The Hidden Half of Nature tells the story of our tangled relationship with microbes and their potential to revolutionize agriculture and medicine, from garden to gut.

When David R. Montgomery and Anne Biklé decide to restore life into their barren yard by creating a garden, dead dirt threatens their dream. As a cure, they feed their soil a steady diet of organic matter. The results impress them. In short order, the much-maligned microbes transform their bleak yard into a flourishing Eden. Beneath their feet, beneficial microbes and plant roots continuously exchange a vast array of essential compounds. The authors soon learn that this miniaturized commerce is central to botanical life's master strategy for defense and health.

They are abruptly plunged further into investigating microbes when Biklé is diagnosed with cancer. Here, they discover an unsettling truth. An armada of bacteria (our microbiome) sails the seas of our gut, enabling our immune system to sort microbial friends from foes. But when our gut microbiome goes awry, our health can go with it. The authors also discover startling insights into the similarities between plant roots and the human gut.

We are not what we eat. We are all - for better or worse - the products of what our microbes eat. This leads to a radical reconceptualization of our relationship to the natural world: By cultivating beneficial microbes, we can rebuild soil fertility and help turn back the modern plague of chronic diseases. The Hidden Half of Nature reveals how to transform agriculture and medicine - by merging the mind of an ecologist with the care of a gardener and the skill of a doctor.

©2016 David R. Montgomery and Anne Bikle (P)2015 Audible, Inc.

Probably the secret to most of our chronic disease

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes- I believe most people will benefit from realizing what big business agriculture has done to us as a result of industrialization on a massive scale in the 20th Century and that there is something that can be done about it in the backyard

What other book might you compare The Hidden Half of Nature to and why?

The One Straw Revolution is a book that discusses no till farming and not putting chemical industry fertilizers in soil written by a Japanese Soil Scientist - Masanobu Fukuoka

Have you listened to any of LJ Ganser’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I have not

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes that would have been nice but not practical

Any additional comments?

Important that we begin to educate ourselves to improve our health and step away from industrialized healthcare and agriculture and this would also help our climate because it would restore the natural cycle

Great information only adequately read

This book is so packed with information, it's best vehicle is probably a hardback rather than an audio book. One could then revisit those sections that slid quickly over ones head and down the other side.
For even the casual listener, it provides enough key fundamentals to seed some new ideas. In others, understanding will drive a quest for more information and become a catalyst for change.

The audiobook was marred by a an able narrator who was unhappily paired to a subject with which he was unfamiliar. This led to some jarring mispronunciations. Further, his tone was somehow pugnacious. I kept being uncomfortably reminded of a bully I knew in grade school.

So I'll buy a hardback copy. You didn't know my bully and you might just love this book. Others, and it's not a bad idea, might just prefer a comic strip edition.

An extremely important book of the basic things in Life.

This is one of the most important books I’ve ever seen. “The Hidden Half Of Nature” is the book of Microbial Life, and it tells us how to restore Nature into the soil the unseen part of Life that is so important to being healthy. The definition of things such as viruses, spores, and bacteria are explained in terms we can understand and make a part of daily Life to heal Humanity and the other animals. I consider it to be one of the most important books ever written. It tells us of the studies that have been conducted -which minerals and nutrients are missing from the soil and how to heal the soil and the body so that they can heal the Human mind, prevent mental and physical illnesses and “put us right”. Please read/listen to it and your knowledge of Life will be increased Manifold. Wisdom and Understanding will be yours. Truly a very important book on how to Live on Earth so that there will be no need to go to Mars. The answer is incredibly simple. Please “just do it”.-PDH.

Don't miss this one

At first, honestly, I thought this was going to be mind numbingly basic. Then the author said something interesting so I kept listening. Ok so yeah I did skip some of the material that I knew well but don't be fooled.

There are a goodly number of fresh ideas and well delivered analysis of newer research.

Also a (pleasant) surprise is that the author takes a global view of the material, that is appropriately enough global in nature, rather than the usual single-track/single level presentation of an idea(s).

Like the book The Wisdom of Your Cells, The Hidden Half of Nature looks like one thing at the start and something much more thought provoking as it develops.

Don't miss this one.

Great book on both soil and gut microbes.

incredibly well done and I learned more on gut micro biology then I have from reading articles on it. I got this to add to my soils knowledge as as a soil scientist that has been out of the plant health end of the field for years, and got above and beyond that.

Not a fan of the narrator

Great book but I will have to read it next time. The narrator was horrible. I will never listen to another book read by this narrator.

Enlightening. Easily digestible.

Of imperative importance to our health. I wish that I had read this book long ago.

Eye Opening

the content of this book really brings into focus what's all around us. I enjoyed the narrator and the way that the book was put together.

Fascinating

If you're interested in health and nutrition and the health of our planet, this book is an illuminating must-read. Scientific and yet simple, this book does a wonderful job of explaining the total interconnectedness of all living organisms in detail, and showcases ecological thinking at its best. You will never see your human body with the same eyes again, nor probably any other living system.

Absolutely Imperative Information to Know

This book put together a lot of things I had heard in various separate places but never had the opportunity to see all together. The history, science, and compelling personal narrative included in this book make it the best book I've read this year. I've learned so much about plants, food, life, and health and answered so many questions that I've had floating around my head for years but never bothered to study in earnest. What is organic food? Why are fertilizers bad for the environment? How do vitamins and minerals affect my health? It never felt preachy or overly dramatic like a lot of climate change / health / food books can be, even though it managed to cover all three! Just a great, highly enjoyable book with a ton of vital information. I will be recommending this book to everyone I know.