Micro: The Invisible Empire reframes human history and the meaning of civilization through the lens of our oldest and most numerous companions: microbes. From shaping the rise and fall of empires through plagues, to guiding the evolution of bodies, cultures, and beliefs, microbes have been both adversary and ally. The book shows how they built the food we love, governed the pace of innovation, and forced societies to invent medicine, law, and ritual.
Through pandemics and fermentation, in the genome and in the city, the invisible world sets the constraints and opportunities of every era. Modern science and biotechnology only deepen our entanglement, revealing both promise and peril as we reengineer microbes and speed up evolutionary change. Ultimately, true progress and meaning come not from the conquest of the microscopic, but from learning resilience, stewardship, and creative coexistence with the world's smallest, most enduring empire.
