Manual of Environmental Microbiology, 3rd Edition Doody's Expert Review Review Questionnaire ISBN: 9781555813796 ISBN-10: 1555813798 Copyright: 2007 Edition: 3rd Editors: Hurst, Christon J., Crawford, Ronald L., Garland, Jay L., Lispon, David A., Mills, Aaron L., Stetzenbach, Linda D., Doody's Expert Review    Score: 100 Doody's Star Rating™ and Doody's Expert Review provide by Doody Enterprises, Inc. Reviewer: J. Thomas  Pierce,  MBBS PhD  (Navy Environmental Health Center) Description This fourth edition of the American Society for Microbiology-sponsored Manual of Environmental Microbiology is written by more than 120 authors and is encyclopedic in scope. Purpose Underlying the fourth edition is the concept of the minimal functional unit of life: whether a living entity should be viewed mostly on its own merits or from the viewpoint of its role in an ecosystem. The authors explore multiple relationships involving members of taxonomic groups as to whether these relationships should be regarded as neutral, positive, or negative with regard to particular involved organisms. Lest this all appear too philosophical, like its antecedent volumes, this edition is still very technical and precise in its delivery of manual-type data. Audience This will likely be used as often by biosafety professionals as by those who teach or otherwise work with environmental organisms in research, production, and teaching. Features The basic principles of environmental microbiology (section I) and general analytical methodologies (section II) tend to be common across the range of environments. The balance of the manual is structured into core sections according to the type of environmental medium under discussion. The subject of water, the hydrosphere, has been divided into two sections, one containing chapters which address the fact that water often serves as a vehicle in the transmission of pathogenic microbes (section III) and the other containing chapters on general aquatic ecology. The terrestrial environment of the lithosphere has been divided into soil and plant zone interactions (section V) and the microbiology of subsurface environments and landfills (section VI). While microbes are not known to colonize the atmosphere, air does serve as a vehicle for transport (section VII). Biotransformation and biodegradation are grouped in section VIII. Assessment Those with the inclination to thoroughly explore the biologically philosophical question of "why organisms are where they are when they are there" will develop a considerable appreciation for this book. In fairness, this edition and the previous editions have been definitive references for methodologies pertinent to environmental media (water, air, and food sources of microorganisms). Given the publication of this fourth edition, there is little doubt that there is considerable demand for this material. I loaned this book several times during my review and the comment that I kept getting was, "I used it...I found it useful...important." That about says it! Review Questionnaire Range Question Score 1-10 Are the author's objectives met? 10 1-10 Rate the worthiness of those objectives. 10 1-5 Is this written at an appropriate level? 5 1-5 Is there significant duplication? (1=significant, 5=insignificant) 5 1-5 Are there significant omissions? (1=significant, 5=insignificant) 5 1-5 Rate the authority of the authors. 5 1-5 Are there sufficient illustrations? 5 1-5 Rate the pedagogic value of the illustrations. 5 1-5 Rate the print quality of the illustrations. 5 1-5 Are there sufficient references? 5 1-5 Rate the currency of the references. 5 1-5 Rate the pertinence of the references. 5 1-5 Rate the helpfulness of the index. 5 1-5 If important in this specialty, rate the physical appearance of the book 5 1-10 Is this a worthwhile contribution to the field? 10 1-10 If this is a 2nd or later edition, is this new edition needed? 10 ©2010 Doody Enterprises, Inc.