Slime: A Natural History

German science journalist Wedlich, well known for her articles in Der Spiegel and National Geographic, turns her attention to a natural phenomenon that is essential to life—slime. Readers may be familiar with the portrayals of slime in movies like Ghostbusters and The Blob, yet may not know that there are four major slime systems in the human body. Wedlich covers all this ground and more across 26 compact chapters. In an unusual move for a science book, she begins with chapters about slime’s representation in the graphic and literary arts, and then explicates slime’s biophysical properties and uses. Readers may be impressed by the diversity and flexibility of slime’s biological applications, ranging from biofilms that serve as protective habitats for microbes to the dual-layer slime that coats the human intestine. As ambitious and fascinating as this book is, however, it suffers somewhat from flaws in execution. Notably, this edition is devoid of illustrations, a disappointment given the wealth of illustrations in the original German edition. This volume also has no citations or references, and the “Further Reading” section is a simple list, with no context provided. Finally, the prose as rendered in English is a bit stiff and uninviting.