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Loading... Deep Life: The Hunt for the Hidden Biology of Earth, Mars, and Beyondby Tullis C. Onstott
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. Believe it or not, this was another "bedtime story," -- I read it aloud to my twelve-year-old. Deeply grateful that I have a degree in environmental microbiology -- so I knew how to pronounce most of the words. This book was both kind of amazing and also sometimes frustrating. The amazing part is that for a "popular science" book, I have never seen a better portrayal of how science actually happens. The grants, the collaborations, the conferences, working with outside agencies, sharing knowledge and expertise, the establishment of new protocols and paradigms. All that was conveyed by making this a personal narrative -- changing the focus from "here is a bunch of cool science stuff" to "here is how we discovered a bunch of cool science stuff." Though sometimes that got a little too personal for me -- I don't really need to hear about the restaurants you used to hang out and drink in. But I suppose that could be interesting and humanize to other readers. The science though, is really cool. The idea that there could be microorganisms "living" or at least viable in rocks hundreds or thousands of meters below the surface -- that those microbes could be responsible for some of the geologic processes that we previously thought of as abiotic. Well, it's a notion I'd barely been made acquainted with by my advisor's work on caves when I was in grad school -- but I'd never thought of it much deeper than that. Parts of this book were so exciting to me that they inspired some light internet stalking, some new grad school fantasies and a few geology scientists I now follow on twitter. The book does get into the nitty-gritty of science, which some reviewers have found to be too tedious or challenging. I am tempted to just say, well, my twelve-year-old enjoyed it. But again, it was being read to him by someone with a degree in environmental microbiology, and we occasionally yelled into the next room to ask materials science questions of my husband. So prepare to be challenged. But I think it's well worth it. no reviews | add a review
Deep Life takes readers to uncharted regions deep beneath Earth's crust in search of life in extreme environments and reveals how astonishing new discoveries by geomicrobiologists are helping the quest to find life in the solar system. Geoscientist Tullis Onstott provides an insider's look at the pioneering fieldwork that is shining vital new light on Earth's hidden biology--a thriving subterranean biosphere that scientists once thought to be impossible. Come along on epic descents two miles underground into South African gold mines to experience the challenges that Onstott and his team had to overcome. Join them in their search for microbes in the ancient seabed below the desert floor in the American Southwest, and travel deep beneath the frozen wastelands of the Arctic tundra to discover life as it could exist on Mars. Blending cutting-edge science with thrilling scientific adventure, Deep Life features rare and unusual encounters with exotic life forms, including a bacterium living off radiation and a hermaphroditic troglodytic worm that has changed our understanding of how complex subsurface life can really be. This unforgettable book takes you to the absolute limits of life--the biotic fringe--where today's scientists hope to discover the very origins of life itself.--Dust jacket. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)612.0144Technology Medicine and health Human physiology Physiology Biophysics and biochemistry Biophysics Influence of Environment on Cells and OrganismsLC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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I like to think that I'm fairly smart, and can comprehend some pretty complex concepts. I majored in astronomy and minored in physics the first time I went to college, and have four degrees now.
This book, though, is extremely difficult to read. The concepts are very interesting, but the execution isn't geared toward the layman. It's rife with hard-to-understand scientific terms from both biology and geology. I'm sure there is a very small audience that would appreciate this book, but unfortunately, it will be completely lost on the "common" reader. ( )