Stefan Helmreich. University of California Press, 2009, 464 p., $60 (hardback), $24.95 (paperback).

Unfortunately, books about science can often be boring. Not so with "Alien Ocean." I performed the ultimate assessment and took the book to bed and was pleasantly surprised I didn't instantly go to sleep but rather stayed up and kept reading. It is an engaging treatise of a fascinating topic.

The author takes the reader on a tour de force through microbiological aspects of marine science that have only recently come of age. Many of the scientists are well known to ASM members be they Ed DeLong, Penny Chisholm, or Lynn Margulis. Even more fascinating are the character studies of (anonymous) graduate students. Author Stefan Helmreich an anthropologist by training, definitely did his homework, attending meetings, scientific cruises, and regular lab meetings, in addition to actively standing on the bench to get an intimidate insight into graduate student life. He carefully portrays the diverse personalities, mindsets, and traits of his subjects. Clearly, the current journey trying and prying to uncover the secrets of "Alien Ocean" with all of its excitement, anticipation, and potentially revolutionary findings is what fascinates the author and, I'm sure, most readers.

The book contains seven chapters, all of them well-researched. The first chapter introduces us to marine microbiology via a journey with Ed DeLong's lab sampling methanotrophs in California's Monterey Bay. From here it is a natural step to further research into deep-sea hydrothermal vents in the second chapter. Chapters 3 and 4 comprise a rather curious break into politics and entrepreneurship as we are relocated to Hawaii. Next is one of the definite highlights of the book as chapter 5 introduces us to metagenomic sequencing of various marine habitats and how to make sense of the data assault. I found the account of Venter a bit unfair. He might be the macho "great white male;" so what? Just as with the human genome project, his sequencing of DNA in the Sargasso Sea created controversy, exited people, and advanced knowledge. That, in my opinion, is a good thing. Who would have cared for boxing in the 1970s if it weren't for Muhammad Ali? The same applies here. Chapters 6 and 7 return us to the truly "alien" in hydrothermal vents and astrobiology. I was happy to see the Gaia hypothesis given the proper scientific accolades without the ersatz religious aspects attached to it by some environmentalists.

The style is steeped in the pompous, flowery style typical for philosophical and perhaps anthropological treatises. It was not always necessarily to my taste, but I was grateful for the many unexpected digs, cross-references, and findings, not least Ed Ricketts inspiring Steinbeck's ‘Doc' from Cannery Row, a hero of mine from an early age. While the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, the Sargasso Sea, the Juan de Fuca Ridge, and the Woods Hole Marine Biological Laboratory are important for most marine scientists, it is probable that a great many more microbiologists have pleasant memories attached to them. Altogether, I think the book is successful documenting this revolutionary period in microbiology in (almost) "real time," and I am sure many readers will agree with me.

Chris Rensing
University of Arizona, Tucson