Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures

After reading this glowing account of the significance of the fungi among us, it seems that the focus of Biological research should shift to the study of these chlorophyll lacking heterotrophs. English biologist Merlin Sheldrake is a poetic wizard in this chronicle about the various fungi and how they influence our world both productively and in turn exposing and removing waste through decomposition. This revelatory tale talks about the significance of yeast for bread and alcohol, food as mushrooms and the aromatic truffle, their medical role as antibiotics. Some toadstools produce psychotropic compounds and their use is examined from ancient cultures to modern medicine. Lichens are known as symbionts, mutual combinations of photosynthetic algae and protective fungi; but this relationship appears to be more complicated and the author reveals current studies that add more mysteries to this relationship. Look underground to find the fungal connections between the roots of plants and wonder at the mystery of how fungi are able to produce enzymes to degrade substances they come in contact with. This story describing the omnipresence of fungi, their various roles along with their essential functions, integrating current research along with past history; is brilliantly unfolded here and serves to mesmerize this reader.