And fungi are major players in some of the most blockbuster symbioses in the history of the planet.

Life is a story of intimate collaboration. It was a thought that changed the way I understood the world-and one that continues to fuel my curiosity about these organisms, which are responsible for so much yet live largely out of sight.Īs my biological studies progressed, I became increasingly interested in symbiosis, the close relationships formed between unrelated organisms. And unless decomposers unmake, there isn’t anything that the composers can make with. I remember trying to wrap my head around this idea as a child and feeling dizzy: Our lives take place in the space that decomposition leaves behind. If nothing decomposed, the earth would pile up kilometers-deep with the bodies of animals and plants. And without their powers of decomposition, our lives would be inconceivable. Fungi can digest many things, from wood to rock to kerosene. But how? My questioning often led me back to fungi-metabolic wizards with a breathtaking capacity to arrange and rearrange the world. A solid log becomes soil, sugar becomes alcohol, a lump of dough rises into bread. I’ve always been fascinated by the way things transform. He recently answered questions about the nature of intelligence, psychedelic drugs, and creative home brews from Mind Matters editor Gareth Cook. Sheldrake’s book is a poetic letter to the associates we never knew we had. And they serve as a platform for, and partner in, almost every aspect of life. Fungal species count in the millions-the true number is unknown. In his book Entangled Life, scientist Merlin Sheldrake introduces us to vastly underappreciated players in the story of our planet.

Entangled life merlin sheldrake