Frances Ashcroft

In Life at the Extremes one chapter has a section called “Eyeballs In and Eyeballs Out.” I love that such stuff exists, although I’d be guilty of false advertising if I failed to reveal that this section title can’t be taken literally.

Author Frances Ashcroft is a professor of physiology at Oxford so naturally her interest in extreme conditions takes a scientific tack. We learn how life achieves extremes or benefits from them, and how those conditions can put life at risk show more physiologically and otherwise. This knowledge helps save folks inclined to expose themselves willingly to the risks of hazardous environments and also helps save people who unwillingly find themselves in similar situations. It’s an informative survey, with descriptions of phenomena in organisms ranging from whales to archaea.

The author also illustrates ways these discoveries shake up how we work. An outstanding example is Thermus aquaticus, a hyperthermophile that was found in the hot springs of Yellowstone National Park and from which the enzyme Taq polymerase was isolated. This enzyme has quite a résumé. It helped make possible analysis of trace amounts of perpetrator DNA from crime scenes, thus providing a new way to help convict criminals in court or establish the innocence of those accused or wrongly convicted.

The book is not for the most part narrative-driven and some readers will decide it is just too many facts and descriptions piled on top of one another. But if you’re at all geeky and attracted to extremity, check it out. show less

I noticed that people complain about abundance of facts in the book, which otherwise could be easily fetched to you by Google. Yes there are facts, numbers and statistics. And for good reason.

However, these digits and stories of history's firsts don't constitute the bulk of the book, or at least the most interesting and practical part of it. IMHO readers benefit most from detailed explanation of how your body (and those of some other living creatures) reacts to exposure to most extreme show more conditions at different levels. It is extremely curious and enlightening. A lot of these facts (especially regarding helping the injured) run against the grain of conventional wisdom. show less

Rating: 4 of 5

Okay, so I think I'll have to read The Spark of Life at least three or four more times to fully understand everything Ashcroft covered. It was fascinating to learn the history of electricity and I couldn't get enough of Chapter 9, "The Doors of Perception."

Even for non-scientists, like moi, there is much to learn from The Spark of Life despite its scientific terminology and explanations. What I loved most about the book was how much it made (is making) me think and wonder.
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The freakiest part of the whole book was pages 309-311 when Ashcroft shared her desire for "a more intimate connection" between the brain and a computer. To paraphrase, she'd like the ability to physically connect her brain to a computer in order to instantly access memories and important information. She admits this is "currently only science fiction. But science fiction often has a way of becoming science fact." Anyone see this episode of X-Files? Or this episode of Doctor Who? I'll pass, thank you very much.

Notes to self:

"Ion channels are truly the 'spark of life' for they govern every aspect of our behavior (p.5)."

Channel dysfunction is responsible for many diseases.

Luigi Galvani first discovered 'animal electricity' = galvanism

Thomas-Francois Dalibard, not Ben Franklin, was the first to demonstrate that lightning is an electrical discharge.

Alessandro Volta invested the first electric battery = volt (unit of electrical potential)

"We too are electrical machines and the electrical currents lie at the heart of life itself (p.33)."

Opposite charges attract one another. Similar charges repel. (p.36)

Electrical signal travels almost the speed of light: 186 million miles per second; nerve impulses at 0.07 miles per second. (p. 37) Bioelectricity

Ion channels are the gatekeepers of the cell.

Queen of Poisons = aconite or aconitine which comes from monkshood (wolfsbane) a pretty plant with a tall spike of blue helmet-shaped flowers. (pp. 75-76)

Some species of rhododendron = grayanotoxin. Bees feed on those flowers, people eat those bees' honey = 'mad honey syndrome' (p.77)

"'The right dose differentiates a poison and a remedy' - Paracelsus (p.81).

"Electrical eel, torpedo (sting ray) (p.122) show less

Getting down to the micro level, about the electrical connections within the body. Full of hard-to-grasp cutting edge boffinry and intriguing anecdotes, eg the same poison was used to boost the assassination bullets that killed the Nazi Heydrich as were (not) used by the CIA on Castro's cigars as is used on aging heiresses brow wrinkles (botulin). Also makes you think differently about salt.
Laced with fine quotes from literary greats and she has a style to match.