In fact, the site has transport links to the whole of the UK on its doorstep with Culham Train Station a short walk away. I was amazed at how clear Hooke’s images was, since in my head you still need rough wood carvings for printed pictures in the 1660s. We don’t need “cell stuff”; I’m sure all readers at this level could manage the term “nutrients” or “proteins” or something clearer.

Instead, I was immediately engaged by Falkowski's conversational, fluid writing, personal anecdotes, and interesting choice of topics. This book was overwhelming to me in some parts - some background in microbiology is needed - but still a good read on how these lowly and unassuming microbes shaped the planet's atmosphere and oceans and set the stage for the emergence of more complicated lifeforms.They surely had their place there, but I think an editor should have requested a change to make it lighter. In addition, kind of weird to think muscle genes come from a repurposing of a single cell organism’s code. Listen in as she takes six different people on a career change journey to help them figure out what work they would really love to do and create a plan of how to make that career change happen.

The evolution of opsins, which was a treasure buried in a few paragraphs, should have come with a drumroll.

Falkowski’s relatively brief, but very informative book shows how his beloved microbes shaped the environment and the flow of evolution.

We believe Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths have the power to change the world – which is why we take part in a range of STEM Outreach events in the local community.It made two successful attempts at completing the Goodwood hill climb, driven by Arturo Merzario, and Lorenzo Prandina, who at that time was the owner of the car. Having read Nick Lane's "The Vital Question" and enjoyed it very much, I found Falkowski's "Life's Engines" a perfect adjunct. In fact, the composition of a planet's atmosphere is a key indicator of the status of life on the planet. Another thing that this book caused me was a longing to become a biologist to find out all the unknown aspects of microbes.