The Hidden Kingdom of Fungi

April 1, 2022

In nine concise chapters, noted mycologist Seifert (Carleton Univ., Ottawa) introduces readers to the hidden world of fungi, which he calls "my friends." Via witty and humorous writing dotted with personal anecdotes, he endeavors to reveal a world that few laypeople know, aside from supermarket mushrooms or brewer's yeasts. He wisely starts from a very basic level, explaining that the fungal edifices that can be seen by the naked eye (like mushrooms) usually represent only the tip of the iceberg that is the vast kingdom Mycota. In fact, the large part of fungal mass lives underground as strands of hyphae, or inside other organisms, like plants and even humans. Most of Seifert's chapters are organized around a particular environment in which fungi live: forests, croplands, foods, houses, the body. Overall, an accessible and enjoyable work that would benefit from more images, especially where Seifert describes the physiological characteristics of each new fungal protagonist. VERDICT An excellent, intimate introduction to fungi and mycology that will appeal to general science readers and those interested in learning about our biologically interdependent world.--Stephen Buss

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April 1, 2022
Seifert, a life-long mycologist and researcher, explores the vast and varied relationships of fungi with people, other living things, and the environment. While mostly invisible to the naked eye, fungi such as yeast, mold, and slimes affect all aspects of daily life from the human body to the food we eat to the air we breathe. The book is arranged by sections that examine different types of habitat where fungi live and flourish. Seifert's writing is animated, and interspersed in the text are fascinating facts and anecdotes. Some of the most thought-provoking information appears in the section on how current fungi research might contribute to a sustainable planet, including the creation and production of mycomaterials that mimic materials like leather and a type of Styrofoam being considered for an eventual colony on Mars. There is also a section on citizen science which suggests ways that readers can contribute their observations and data to scientific research. Seifert, in this fascinating, engaging, and approachable work, provides an improved understanding of how fungi surround and affect our lives.

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March 15, 2022
A mycologist and former president of the International Mycological Society reveals the unseen world of microfungi. Fans of Merlin Sheldrake's Entangled Life and Suzanne Simard's Finding the Mother Tree will enjoy Seifert's latest, in which he leaves behind recognizable mushrooms, like chanterelles and morels, to tour microfungi, like yeasts and molds, which are all around, on, and within us. Like any good guide, he shares the wonder of his subject. Viewed through a microscope, a dyed solution of household dust "lights up like the Milky Way....Bacteria and viruses shine like stars. Pollen grains drift by like glowing blimps. And among all these particles are the extending tubular cells, geometrical spores, and budding yeast cells of fungi." Some of those yeast fungi make wonderful things happen, like beer, wine, and bread; others are part of our "friendly gut flora." Beneficial molds boost agriculture and give us antibiotics and many varieties of cheese. Most flora and fauna couldn't exist without fungi, and fungi are legendary for enabling forests to thrive via a complicated network dubbed the "Wood Wide Web." But as the fungal gods giveth, they taketh away. Seifert warns: "You should enjoy your coffee while you can." Hemileia vastatrix made tea drinkers of Brits when, in the mid-19th century, the rust fungus killed off their coffee supply, and vastatrix is still inexorably working across the planet. Some fungi cause more significant problems, destroying crops, rotting vast quantities of stored food, and rendering built environments uninhabitable. All told, however, our microbial "cousins" do far more good than harm, as the author ably explains, and they might save us and our beleaguered planet. Fungi can help us increase crop yields, which will become critical as climate change further reduces arable land; remediate pollutants, including plastic and radioactive waste; and much more. Seifert, whose botanical illustrations are whimsical and T-shirt-worthy, makes a fascinating, hopeful case that "the future is fungal." A perspective-shifting guide to our microfungal matrix.

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