Hidden Kingdom: The Surprising Story of Fungi and Our Forests, Homes, and Bodies

From a leading mycologist: Keith Seifert, now retired, spent 40 years studying fungi across five continents. He was president of the International Mycological Association, an executive editor of Mycologia, and associate editor of several other scientific journals. A uniquely all-encompassing book about fungi: most popular fungi books focus on the kind of fungi that you can see and that live with plants. Seifert looks at a variety of different types of fungi, including those that are invisible to the naked eye, and those that live in relationship to humans, agriculture, animals, forests, cities, and more. There are now 56 species of fungi that are considered endangered. And yet the Endangered Species Act does not explicitly protect fungi. Fungi play a critical role in climate change. Fungi hold promise for breaking down plastics and generating new types of biofuels, and such research is helping to draw interest in fungi and the important role they play in biodiversity and combating climate change. Interest in fungi is exploding after the publications of The Hidden Life of Trees and Entangled Life, and the recent Netflix documentary Fantastic Fungi, which sparked readers’ curiosity about how humans are connected to fungi—a topic Seifert explores more in-depth. Fun Fact!: the fungi featured on the cover is an Ergot: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ergot

Table of Contents:
Foreword  A Note About Names  Introduction: Diversity in the Dust  PART 1: The Hidden Kingdom 1 | Life in the Colonies: Fungal Evolution 2 | Life on the Commons: From Mutualism to Parasitism to Biological Invasion  PART 2: The Fungal Planet 3 | Forests: Seeing the Fungi for the Trees  4 | Farming: The Seventh-Oldest Profession  5 | Fermentation: Food, Drink, and Compost  6 | The Secret House: Fungi and the Built Environment  7 | Holobiont: The Mycobiome and the Human Body  PART 3: The Mycelial Revolution 8 | Mycotechnology: Fungi for the People  9 | Thirty Thousand Feet: Fungi and the Sustainable Planet  Acknowledgments  Appendix: Fungal Classification  Notes  Literature Cited  Index 

About the Author :
Keith Seifert spent more than 40 years studying fungi on five continents. At Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, he did research on microscopic fungi from farms, forests, food, and the built environment, to reduce toxins and diseases affecting plants and animals. He was president of the International Mycological Association, an executive editor of Mycologia, and associate editor of several other scientific journals. He lives near Ottawa, Canada. Dr. Rob Dunn is Professor of Applied Ecology at North Carolina State University and the author of seven books, including Delicious, Never Home Alone, and A Natural History of the Future. He’s written for Scientific American, Smithsonian Magazine, and National Geographic and regularly advocates for citizen science. He lives in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Review :
“Fans of Merlin Sheldrake’s Entangled Life and Suzanne Simard’s Finding the Mother Tree will enjoy Seifert’s latest... A perspective-shifting guide to our microfungal matrix.” —Kirkus "Seifert, in this fascinating, engaging, and approachable work, provides an improved understanding of how fungi surround and affect our lives." —Booklist “An excellent primer for the ecological and forest-interested layperson.” —The Globe and Mail “Explore the complex and ingenious ecosystems where fungi are found and discover how these marvels of nature enrich (and sometimes threaten) our lives.” —Peter Wohlleben, New York Times-bestselling author of The Hidden Life of Trees “If you are interested in mushrooms, like so many people are these days, but want to delve deeper than the headlines, this is the book for you.” —Eugenia Bone, author of Mycophilia and former president of the New York Mycological Society “Delightful … A wide-eyed grand tour of [an] alien world [that] makes me love these multi-gendered, cell-wall-having, network-forming bugs all the more.” —Adam Rogers, senior correspondent at Wired and author of Full Spectrum: How the Science of Color Made Us Modern and Proof: The Science of Booze “Flat-out fabulous. [The Hidden Kingdom of Fungi is] an enlightening introduction to fungi, yes, but it’s also a real page-turner. Dr. Seifert is a spectacularly skilled writer. He truly puts the fun in fungi.” —Andy MacKinnon, author of Alpine Plants of the Northwest “An excellent, intimate introduction to fungi and mycology that will appeal to general science readers and those interested in learning about our biologically interdependent world.” —Library Journal “An authoritative and gripping exposé of fungi… with an exciting vision of how they might contribute to a more sustainable Earth. This book will increase your respect for fungi and could challenge your view of the world—inside and on you, your home, and outdoors.” —David L. Hawksworth, Hon. President, International Mycological Association "Fungi, the author tells us, are the meek that long ago inherited the Earth ... For the innately curious, 'The Hidden Kingdom of Fungi' will be an eye-opening introduction to a secretive world that most of us know too little about." —Richard Schiffman, Washington Post