The Life That Lives on Man: A Fantastic Journey Over the Human Skin

If anyone can read this book through without falling into a fit of scratching (especially the chapters on eyelash mites and bedbugs) he or she must have nerves of steel. I made the mistake of taking this book on a camping trip, and all I can say is that it is better to read it in a place where you can frequently bathe and change your bedding. However, if you agree with Roman playwright, Terence, that nothing human is foreign to you, and you chuckle wickedly at the author's story of the pompous ambassador with crab lice roaming through his eyebrows, you might well enjoy "The Life that Lives on Man." The author's style is clear, crisp, and British, and he exhibits a gleeful fondness for his unappealing subject matter. This book's first illustration--an oil painting by an obscure Dutch master--gives the reader an idea of what will follow. In it a woman picks fleas off of her nightgown by the light of a single taper, and drowns them in a pan of water. Another illustration shows the colonies of bacteria that flourish on our hands before and after washing. After examining this photograph, do you still think you can sing a jaunty chorus of "There Ain't No Bugs on Me" along with that cute blonde puppy in the flea collar ad? Did you know that almost 30% of our body weight is made up of bacteria? They thrive, as the author puts it, "in every nook of Granny." Other facts from this book: * One of the rules of etiquette that George Washington learned as a boy was, "Kill no vermin, as fleas, lice, ticks, etc. in the sight of others." * "Each of us has about as many bacteria and yeasts on the surface of his or her skin as there are people on earth." * The ancient Egyptian cure for baldness included viper-oil, bats' ears, and myrrh. It worked as well as any of the concoctions sold on late-night TV. * "No man with ringworm has to remove his hat in the presence of the British monarch." * "In the U.S. Air Force athlete's foot has even been treated by amputating toes." Probably the biggest gross-out in this book is "the thought that the roots of one's eyelashes are colonized by mites." The author writes, "Few people can confront with equanimity the idea that worm-like creatures which have been likened to eight-legged crocodiles squirm out their diminutive lives in warm oily lairs in our hair follicles." As far as anyone knows, human follicle mites (Demodex folliculorum) are harmless, but some of the parasites in this book have caused the worst plagues in recorded history, including the Black Death and Typhus. All I can add to my review of this classic of human parasitology is, be prepared to scratch.

The book is both excellent and eerie. If you are one that just has to know what kind of zoo we are carrying around and why, then this is the book. An easy read, it won't be boring, becasue the life described in the book is very close at hand. This is a book that will provide you with new incites. The section about mites was truly fascinating. Kudos to the author's interesting style and the fact that he picked up a subject not much discussed and ran with it

Michael Andrews, the author of "The Life That Lives on Man" knows microbiology like no one I know. I wish I had this book on tape while in nursing school. It does a much better job than the text books we used. Moreover my teacher was far from knowing the subject so well as Mr Andrews. This is a great book. Everyone should read it... you'll live better.