Matt Simon is a science journalist at Wired magazine, where he covers the environment, biology, and robotics. Hes the author of two previous books, Plight of the Living Dead: What Real-Life Zombies Reveal About Our World-and Ourselves and The Wasp That Brainwashed the Caterpillar: Evolutions Most Unbelievable Solutions to Lifes Biggest Problems. He enjoys long walks on the beach and trying not to think about all the microplastics there.
Description
Introduction
Chapter 1. Welcome to Planet Plastic
Chapter 2. A Voyage on the Synthetic Seas
Chapter 3. A Land Corrupted
Chapter 4. Breathe Deep the Plastic Air
Chapter 5. Turning Down the Plastic Tap
Acknowledgments
Notes
About the Author
Index
“Informed, utterly blindsiding account.”
-Booklist
“This is a lucid, distressing look at a growing environmental concern.”
-Publishers Weekly
“Journalist Matt Simon’s urgent new book A Poison Like No Other: How Microplastics Corrupted Our Planet and Our Bodies is classified as environmental science but could comfortably be labeled as horror… densely reported; nearly every sentence is a harrowing, footnoted stat... isn’t necessarily a fun read. But it is unforgettable.”
-San Francisco Chronicle
"An urgent call to action aimed at curbing the introduction of microplastics into the environment."
-Kirkus Reviews
"Essential...shocking...Reading this book will fundamentally change your own relationship with plastic."
-Lloyd Alter / Treehugger
"Looks at how [plastics] all went wrong...It’s an important book but a hard one to read..."
-Washington Independent Review of Books
"From the bottom of the ocean to the heights of Mount Everest, the author somehow manages to tell the story of this pervasive poison with engaging storytelling and powerful visual imagery. A single-use plastic bag will never look the same."
-The Verona Press
"An authoritative, unflinching account of how plastics built the modern world, then contaminated every corner of it. Simon is a sharp guide to the science of this slow-moving, often invisible catastrophe, the consequences of which are only just now beginning to be understood. This book disturbs, provokes, and delights. It is an urgent read."
-Megan Molteni, science writer, STAT
"Fascinating dive into a ubiquitous but under-the-radar pollutant. This book will change how you look at everything: your baby’s toys, your favorite pants, and climate change policy. Throughout, Simons jaunty writing will keep a wry smile on your face."
-Danielle Venton, science reporter, KQED
"Keeping up with the new science on microplastics is a full-time job for specialists. Thank goodness for Simon, who helps the rest of us understand the state of the science and what’s at stake. This is a growing problem, and this book is a timely snapshot taken at a critical moment in the history of plastic pollution."
-Rebecca Altman, PhD, writer and environmental sociologist