Eat, Poop, Die

By Joe Roman,

Book cover of Eat, Poop, Die: How Animals Make Our World

Book description

NAMED A TOP-TEN BEST BOOK OF 2023 BY SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN

A “fascinating” exploration (Elizabeth Kolbert) of how ecosystems are sculpted and sustained by animals eating, pooping, and dying—and how these fundamental functions could help save us from climate catastrophe.


If forests are the lungs of the planet, then animals migrating…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Eat, Poop, Die as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Animals are more integrated into the human world than I thought. We enjoy their company, are inspired by their skills and intelligence, and fear their ferocity. Roman’s book explains how animals shape our surroundings in powerful ways.

I found myself saying “No, Way!” multiple times throughout the book. For example, seabirds create clouds above islands from the vapors released from their poop. Tiny insects called ‘midges’ fertilize fields with their dead bodies to the tune of one hundred pounds per acre. Across the animal kingdom, 21 seconds is consistently the time it takes to empty a bladder!

From this book,…

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