Free Signed Book Contest

This is something that tends to do very well among most blog readers, especially among AfroSphere bloggers and readers - Free Book Contest.

Carl Zimmer is a popular science writer who writes for the New York Times and several magazines.

His recent book Microcosm: E. coli and the New Science of Life is now on sale but he's actually giving away a signed copy of his book. I'd like for one of my readers to get a shot at winning this book. All you have to do is visit his blog and ask a question about E. coli - the subject of the book.


Editorial Reviews of the book From Publishers Weekly
When most readers hear the words E. coli, they think tainted hamburger or toxic spinach. Noted science writer Zimmer says there are in fact many different strains of E. coli, some coexisting quite happily with us in our digestive tracts. These rod-shaped bacteria were among the first organisms to have their genome mapped, and today they are the toolbox of the genetic engineering industry and even of high school scientists. Zimmer explains that by scrutinizing the bacteria's genome, scientists have discovered that genes can jump from one species to another and how virus DNA has become tightly intertwined with the genes of living creatures all the way up the tree of life to humans. Studying starving E. coli has taught us about how our own cells age. Advocates of intelligent design often produce the E. coli flagellum as Exhibit A, but the author shows how new research has shed light on the possible evolutionary arc of the flagellum. Zimmer devotes a chapter to the ethical debates surrounding genetic engineering. Written in elegant, even poetic prose, Zimmer's well-crafted exploration should be required reading for all well-educated readers.
(May 6) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

"Written in elegant, even poetic prose, Zimmer's well-crafted exploration should be required reading for all well-educated readers."--Publishers Weekly

Good luck.