Never Home Alone

From Microbes to Millipedes, Camel Crickets, and Honeybees, the Natural History of Where We Live

By: Rob Dunn

Narrated by: Sean Patrick Hopkins

A natural history of the wilderness in our homes, from the microbes in our showers to the crickets in our basements

Even when the floors are sparkling clean and the house seems silent, our domestic domain is wild beyond imagination. In Never Home Alone, biologist Rob Dunn introduces us to the nearly 200,000 species living with us in our own homes, from the Egyptian meal moths in our cupboards and camel crickets in our basements to the lactobacillus lounging on our kitchen counters. You are not alone. Yet, as we obsess over sterilizing our homes and separating our spaces from nature, we are unwittingly cultivating an entirely new playground for evolution. These changes are reshaping the organisms that live with us -- prompting some to become more dangerous, while undermining those species that benefit our bodies or help us keep more threatening organisms at bay. No one who reads this engrossing, revelatory book will look at their homes in the same way again.

Critic reviews

"Utterly fascinating... a spirited romp through the vast diversity that inhabits our daily lives and how we've changed our ecosystems, often for the worse."—Washington Post

"In his fascinating new book...Mr. Dunn brings a scientist's sensibility to our domestic jungle by exploring the paradox of the modern home.... Mr. Dunn also gracefully explains, without getting bogged down in details, the technology that has allowed scientists during the past decade or so to sequence the DNA of millions of previously unknown microbes, making his book an excellent layperson's guide to cutting-edge research."—Wall Street Journal

"Chatty, informative... it's hard not to be occasionally charmed by [Dunn's] prose, as when he catalogs the arthropods with whom we share our homes... And it's hard not to share, at least a little, his awe at their diversity, even in a single household."—New York Times Book Review

"[A] fascinating and illuminating book... Dunn and his colleagues have used the concepts and techniques of community ecology to tease apart the functioning of a mostly ignored ecosystem: the human home. Their research enriches our understanding of ecosystem function, and--more grippingly--gives us insight into how our interactions with living things in the domestic habitat affect our health and well-being."—Nature

"Never Home Alone is a thumping good book that raises alarm and offers reassurance in roughly equal measure. And it is funny... What makes [it] so compelling is a sense of wonder and delight that encompasses all sorts of creatures and all sorts of science."—Los Angeles Review of Books

"Intriguing... Seen through Dunn's curious eyes, a house becomes not just a set of rooms, but a series of habitats to be explored. His writing and research lend a new appreciation of what many of us consider pests."—Science News

"If you're an insectophobe looking for a thrill, you'll love Rob Dunn's Never Home Alone, which details the thousands of species of insects and microbes that live in and around your home."—Bustle

Wonders of this planet right under our noses

I loved it! This is well researched and fascinating. It is also well written, keeping the science fun.

Great

Super interesting. I recommend. Good microbes. Learned a lot, and good book to fall asleep to, too.

Delightful!

I loved this book so much. I was surprised, enlightened, and overall delighted. I also eye my shower head with suspicion now, but I did not change it. At least not yet!

Great work

This book offers a great perspective! It is one that we should all learn about. I definitely recommend this book if you want to learn more about microbes and insects and humans relationships with them .

ecology microenvironment put in context

well presented and interesting and this so in a field with a huge lack of information.....bravo