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A review of The Secret Life of Dust: From the Cosmos to the Kitchen Counter, the Big Consequences of Little Things

by Hannah Holmes

A fascinating interdisciplinary look at dust in its cosmic and mundane manifestations, inspired by science writer Holmes's trip to the Gobi Desert.

Reviewed by: Joan Prefontaine
About Joan Prefontaine

The Secret Life of Dust: From the Cosmos to the Kitchen Counter, the Big Consequences of Little Things Allergy sufferers may wish to steer clear of this book, unless they like to hear facts such as "you breathe 700,000 of your own skin flakes each day," and "the average child eats 15 or 20 milligrams of dust a day." But many readers will find this book too intriguing to put down, and will relish Holmes's lucid scientific writing, if not all the facts she unearths about bacteria, viruses, dust-mites and other conventionally unsavory topics.

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. We live covered by dust and one day we will return to it. Billions of tons of dust rise from volcanoes, deserts, oceans, and factories every year. Billions of tons fall to earth again, some from outer space. Industrialized society has been busily changing the components of dust, adding toxic elements that may be lethal over time: mercury, chromium, lead, herbicides, PCBs and pesticides. Holmes makes it clear that pollution knows no borders, and that we cannot isolate ourselves from smokestack emissions in far-off countries. Wind and storms move dust particles all over the globe. Some dusts reflect sunlight and cool the planet. Others, like black soot, soak up heat as they move through the sky. Dusts, like gases, affect long-term weather patterns.

Many of the dusts that travel the earth help keep the planet green and healthy. According to Holmes, fungi "break down a variety of substances, including the dead flesh of plants and animals, and even rocks." In doing so, they release trapped nutrients and enrich the soil. Some Caribbean islands would be bare if it weren't for the dusts of deserts and volcanoes that have settled on their gray rocks, creating lush vegetation.

Cosmic dust creates new planets and solar systems. Holmes writes: "Each star that dies rains more dust out into the galaxy, like a black firecracker. It is this dust of expired stars that will form the next generation of Suns, Earths, and other heavenly bodies." Yet with each generation of stars, the universe, she says, will become dustier. In time it will begin to fade. "Eventually, like an old newspaper in the attic, the worn-out universe will gradually disappear under the thickening dust." (The way Holmes describes it, even such a grim scenario as the end of the universe comes across as intriguing, even a little magical.)

Because this writer has the rare ability to draw from many fields, including astronomy, climatology, biology, natural history and pathology, she offers us a compelling overview of how dust has shaped, and will continue to shape, life on earth. It would be a shame to allow Holmes's book to gather dust, when so much is at stake.

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Copyright © by Joan Prefontaine, 2003

Reviewed by Joan Prefontaine:
-- The Secret Life of Dust - by Hannah Holmes
-- Lying Awake: - by Mark Salzman
-- The Art & Craft of Playwriting - by Jeffrey Hatcher
-- On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft - by Stephen King
-- Earth Prayers From Around the World - Edited by Elizabeth Roberts and Elias Amidon
-- The Beauty of the Beast - Selected by Jack Prelutsky, Illustrated by Meilo So
-- The Intimate Merton - Edited by Patrick Hart and Jonathan Montaldo
-- Plainsong - by Kent Haruf
-- The Stone Diaries - by Carol Shields
-- City of God - by E. L. Doctorow









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