Want to know what books Paul Falkowski recommends on their reading list? We've researched interviews, social media posts, podcasts, and articles to build a comprehensive list of Paul Falkowski's favorite book recommendations of all time.
1
Microcosmos brings together the remarkable discoveries of microbiology of the past two decades and the pioneering research of Dr. Margulis to create a vivid new picture of the world that is crucial to our understanding of the future of the planet. Addressed to general readers, the book provides a beautifully written view of evolution as a process based on interdependency and the interconnectedness of all life on the planet. more Microcosmos brings together the remarkable discoveries of microbiology of the past two decades and the pioneering research of Dr. Margulis to create a vivid new picture of the world that is crucial to our understanding of the future of the planet. Addressed to general readers, the book provides a beautifully written view of evolution as a process based on interdependency and the interconnectedness of all life on the planet. less 
Paul FalkowskiLynn Margulis’s major contribution was in popularizing and explaining the concept of symbiosis to the public and to her fellow biologists. (Source)
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2
Ask anyone to picture a bird or a fish and a series of clear images will immediately come to mind. Ask the same person to picture plankton and most would have a hard time conjuring anything beyond a vague squiggle or a greyish fleck. This book will change that forever.
Viewing these creatures up close for the first time can be a thrilling experience—an elaborate but hidden world truly opens up before your eyes. Through hundreds of close-up photographs, Plankton transports readers into the currents, where jeweled chains hang next to phosphorescent chandeliers, spidery claws... more Ask anyone to picture a bird or a fish and a series of clear images will immediately come to mind. Ask the same person to picture plankton and most would have a hard time conjuring anything beyond a vague squiggle or a greyish fleck. This book will change that forever.
Viewing these creatures up close for the first time can be a thrilling experience—an elaborate but hidden world truly opens up before your eyes. Through hundreds of close-up photographs, Plankton transports readers into the currents, where jeweled chains hang next to phosphorescent chandeliers, spidery claws jut out from sinuous bodies, and gelatinous barrels protect microscopic hearts. The creatures’ vibrant colors pop against the black pages, allowing readers to examine every eye and follow every tentacle. Jellyfish, tadpoles, and bacteria all find a place in the book, representing the broad scope of organisms dependent on drifting currents.
Christian Sardet’s enlightening text explains the biological underpinnings of each species while connecting them to the larger living world. He begins with plankton’s origins and history, then dives into each group, covering ctenophores and cnidarians, crustaceans and mollusks, and worms and tadpoles. He also demonstrates the indisputable impact of plankton in our lives. Plankton drift through our world mostly unseen, yet they are diverse organisms that form ninety-five percent of ocean life. Biologically, they are the foundation of the aquatic food web and consume as much carbon dioxide as land-based plants. Culturally, they have driven new industries and captured artists’ imaginations.
While scientists and entrepreneurs are just starting to tap the potential of this undersea forest, for most people these pages will represent uncharted waters. Plankton is a spectacular journey that will leave readers seeing the ocean in ways they never imagined. less Paul FalkowskiIt’s a 21st century version of a Robert Hooke book – in vivid color and beautiful photomicrographs. If you were to take Hooke and bring him into the modern world and say, ‘OK Bobby, here you go, here’s a microscope, and by the way, you have this new thing called a “camera” and you can take pictures of the beasts!’ he would have had been in scientific Heaven- just like Christian when he made these... (Source)
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3
The concept of disease and germs can be dfificult for Christians to understand in a creationist worldview. The author sheds light on the origin of germs and how they fit into a Biblical worldview and the possible function of these microbes before the fall. He also considers how these constantly mutating pathogens are not evidence for evolution, but rather of de-evoution. Every year seems to bring an impending threat of a new disease outbreak. The spread of these scary diseases, from avian flu to SARS to AIDS, is a cause for concern and leads to questions, such as: Where did all these germs... more The concept of disease and germs can be dfificult for Christians to understand in a creationist worldview. The author sheds light on the origin of germs and how they fit into a Biblical worldview and the possible function of these microbes before the fall. He also considers how these constantly mutating pathogens are not evidence for evolution, but rather of de-evoution. Every year seems to bring an impending threat of a new disease outbreak. The spread of these scary diseases, from avian flu to SARS to AIDS, is a cause for concern and leads to questions, such as: Where did all these germs come from? How do they fit into a biblical worldview? What kind of function did these microbes have before the Fall? How can something so small have such a huge, deadly impact on the world around us? Dr. Alan Gillen sheds light on these and many other questions in this revealing and detailed book. He shows how these constantly mutating diseases are proof for devolution rather than evolution, and how all of these germs fit into a biblical worldview. He also shows how germs are symptomatic of the literal Fall and Curse of creation as a result of man's sin, and the hope we have in the coming of Jesus Christ. less Paul FalkowskiIt’s not my favourite book, it’s just a book I found interesting. It was published in 2007, almost 350 years after Hooke. It’s 148 years since the first edition of The Origin of Species was published in 1859. Here you have a person studying the organisms that most obviously represent a history of evolution, and yet, amazingly, the idea of microbes appeals to him as a creationist. (Source)
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4
Paul FalkowskiThis book is an oldie but goldie. It was the first scientific bestseller, as near as I can tell. There’s a quote from Samuel Pepys — who was an original fellow of the Royal Society — that he stayed up until two ‘o’ clock in the morning reading Hooke’s book. Incredibly, the book is still in print. There are, I believe, 54 illustrations in it. It was the first book that really showed the public... (Source)
Adam Hart-DavisRobert Hooke was a really interesting bloke. He was almost the first person to use a microscope as a scientific instrument and he looked at things like fleas and drew wonderful pictures of them. (Source)
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5
Australopithecines, dinosaurs, trilobites--such fossils conjure up images of lost worlds filled with vanished organisms. But in the full history of life, ancient animals, even the trilobites, form only the half-billion-year tip of a nearly four-billion-year iceberg. Andrew Knoll explores the deep history of life from its origins on a young planet to the incredible Cambrian explosion, presenting a compelling new explanation for the emergence of biological novelty.
The very latest discoveries in paleontology--many of them made by the author and his students--are integrated... more Australopithecines, dinosaurs, trilobites--such fossils conjure up images of lost worlds filled with vanished organisms. But in the full history of life, ancient animals, even the trilobites, form only the half-billion-year tip of a nearly four-billion-year iceberg. Andrew Knoll explores the deep history of life from its origins on a young planet to the incredible Cambrian explosion, presenting a compelling new explanation for the emergence of biological novelty.
The very latest discoveries in paleontology--many of them made by the author and his students--are integrated with emerging insights from molecular biology and earth system science to forge a broad understanding of how the biological diversity that surrounds us came to be. Moving from Siberia to Namibia to the Bahamas, Knoll shows how life and environment have evolved together through Earth's history. Innovations in biology have helped shape our air and oceans, and, just as surely, environmental change has influenced the course of evolution, repeatedly closing off opportunities for some species while opening avenues for others.
Readers go into the field to confront fossils, enter the lab to discern the inner workings of cells, and alight on Mars to ask how our terrestrial experience can guide exploration for life beyond our planet. Along the way, Knoll brings us up-to-date on some of science's hottest questions, from the oldest fossils and claims of life beyond the Earth to the hypothesis of global glaciation and Knoll's own unifying concept of ''permissive ecology.''
In laying bare Earth's deepest biological roots, Life on a Young Planet helps us understand our own place in the universe--and our responsibility as stewards of a world four billion years in the making.
In a new preface, Knoll describes how the field has broadened and deepened in the decade since the book's original publication. less 
Richard ForteyIt’s very important, when we muck around with the atmosphere as we’re doing, to realise that what we have is actually a product of this ineffable and long period of planetary evolution. (Source)
Andrew ScottKnoll shows the intimate relationship between the evolution of life and the evolution of the planet. (Source)
Paul FalkowskiWhat Andy has done is really exposed us to the world before animals and plants, when there was strong evidence of life but the world was totally controlled by single celled organisms, the protists. (Source)
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