Soil sustains life and is among Earth's most essential natural resources. Nearly 60 percent of all species depend on soil for their survival, and almost all mammals depend on plants grown in soil. To many of us, it may seem like just "dirt," but under the gaze of the authors of The Soil Zoo, it's a dazzling microcosmos teeming with never-before-seen creatures that need to be seen to be believed.

And seen they are, thanks to the high-tech electron microscopes and cameras deployed by world-leading "Eye of Science" photography team Nicole Ottawa and Oliver Meckes. Here are springtails chewing on deadwood, ciliates feeding on bacteria, amoebas hunting nematodes, voracious mites, and fungi and lichens forming vast networks-all in extraordinarily detailed extreme close-ups that invite closest-possible scrutiny.

Scientists Veronika Straass and Claus-Peter Lieckfeld's accompanying text help us further appreciate this abundant and astonishingly vibrant world, including the fact that up to ten billion organisms can inhabit a handful of soil, with life cycles ranging from a few hours to entire centuries.

Everyone from inquisitive gardeners to students of soil science, cutting-edge photography fans to the biology-curious, will be amazed by The Soil Zoo's panoply of weird and wonderful higher-life-supporting cast of characters. And readers will come away compelled to play our part as stewards of the soil, to ensure the astonishing diversity of these organisms continues to survive-and thrive.