Previous edition: Foundations in microbiology / Kathleen Park Talaro, Barry Chess (New York, NY : McGraw-Hill Education, 2018).

The main themes of microbiology -- The chemistry of biology -- Tools of the laboratory : methods of studying microorganisms -- A survey of prokaryotic cells and microorganisms -- A survey of eukaryotic cells and microorganisms -- An introduction to viruses -- Microbial nutrition, ecology, and growth -- An introduction to microbial metabolism : the chemical crossroads of life -- An introduction to microbial genetics -- Genetic engineering : a revolution in molecular biology -- Physical and chemical agents for microbial control -- Drugs, microbes, hosts : the elements of chemotherapy -- Microbe-human interactions : infection, disease, and epidemiology -- An introduction to host defenses and innate immunities -- Adaptive, specific immunity, and immunization.

Disorders in immunity -- Procedures for identifying pathogens and diagnosing infections -- The gram-positive and gram-negative cocci of medical importance -- The gram-positive bacilli of medical importance -- The gram-negative bacilli of medical importance -- Miscellaneous bacterial agents of disease -- The fungi of medical importance -- The parasites of medical importance -- Introduction to viruses that infect humans : the DNA viruses -- The RNA viruses that infect humans -- Environmental microbiology -- Applied and industrial microbiology.