"The author does an excellent job in describing fundamental concepts in evolutionary ecology and discussing how these concepts may apply to microorganisms in natural environments. It is unique in that it focuses on general ecological and evolutionary principles instead of rehashing information that could be found in current microbiology textbooks. This book would be most appropriate for readers that already have a solid background in microbiology and are interested in exploring the emerging field of microbial ecology." --Noah Fierer, University of Colorado, in ECOLOGY
"Even medical microbiologists, who still isolate and study pathogens in pure culture, now, recognize that we can truly fathom microbial life only studying heterogeneous, evolving communities of microorganisms. Vaun McArthur set out to portray this wider reality, and has succeeded..." --Bernard Dixon in BIOLOGIST