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Loading... Oxygen: The Molecule That Made the World (Popular Science) (original 2002; edition 2003)by Nick Lane
Work InformationOxygen: The Molecule that Made the World by Nick Lane (2002)
   Books Read in 2014 (1,738) Chemistry (15) No current Talk conversations about this book.  leah_markum | Oct 28, 2022 |    ) StephenKimber | Mar 5, 2021 | NOTE: The author's view of junk DNA is a bit dated - the book was published in 2002 and research on junk DNA has advanced since then. Some other information might also be dated, but that is simply how science and science writing work. OTHER RELATED RECOMMENDED BOOKS: * The Emerald Planet: How Plants Changed Earth's History by David Beerling * Why We Get Sick: The New Science of Darwinian Medicine by Randolph M. Nesse, George C. Williams * Under a Green Sky: Global Warming, the Mass Extinctions of the Past, and What They Can Tell Us About Our Future by Peter D. Ward ( ) ElentarriLT | Mar 24, 2020 | ) jefware | Jul 10, 2016 | ogroft | Apr 14, 2015 | no reviews | add a review
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Oxygen has had extraordinary effects on life.Three hundred million years ago, in Carboniferous times, dragonflies grew as big as seagulls, with wingspans ofnearly a metre. Researchers claim they could have flown only if the air had contained more oxygen than today -probably as much as 35 per cent. Giant spiders, tree-ferns, marine rock formations and fossil charcoalsall tell the same story. High oxygen levels may also explain the global firestorm that contributed to thedemise of the dinosaurs after the asteroid impact.The strange and profound effects that oxygen has had on the evolution of life pose a riddle, which this booksets out to answer. Oxygen is a toxic gas. Divers breathing pure oxygen at depth suffer from convulsionsand lung injury. Fruit flies raised at twice normal atmospheric levels of oxygen live half as long as theirsiblings. Reactive forms of oxygen, known as free radicals, are thought to cause ageing in people. Yet ifatmospheric oxygen reached 35 per cent in the Carboniferous, why did it promote exuberant growth,instead of rapid ageing and death?Oxygen takes the reader on an enthralling journey, as gripping as a thriller, as it unravels the unexpectedways in which oxygen spurred the evolution of life and death. The book explains far more than the size ofancient insects: it shows how oxygen underpins the origin of biological complexity, the birth of photosynthesis, the sudden evolution of animals, the need for two sexes, the accelerated ageing of cloned animals like Dolly the sheep, and the surprisingly long lives of bats and birds.Drawing on this grand evolutionary canvas, Oxygen offers fresh perspectives on our own lives and deaths,explaining modern killer diseases, why we age, and what we can do about it. Advancing revelatory new ideas,following chains of evidence, the book ranges through many disciplines, from environmental sciences tomolecular medicine. The result is a captivating vision of contemporary science and a humane synthesis of ourplace in nature. This remarkable book will redefine the way we think about the world. No library descriptions found. |
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 Google Books — Loading...GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)550Natural sciences and mathematics Earth sciences & geology GeologyLC ClassificationRatingAverage: (4.21)
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Wikipedia in English (2)
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The author claims this book is for the general public. No, it is not. Even people who love this book admit this is a hard read. An educational background in biochemistry with some understanding of geochemistry and genetics are a remarkable plus. Other than that you need a lot of patience. Despite my moderate knowledge in these fields (low level college), I read this book incredibly slowly for the first third. Eventually I became reluctant to read it at all, so I gave myself permission to skim.
Did I learn a lot? Yes. In fact, it's an incredibly fact dense book, especially if you don't mind the history of all the studies leading to current speculations on oxygen and its influence on life. Much--okay, page per page, it's probably most--of the book is dedicated to fleshing out the research that has theories on oxygen. Most negative reviews focus on this aspect. You can't read this book for it's conclusions, you have to enjoy reading the process.
A part of me would love to come back in a few years after bulking up my biochemistry background so that I can read faster and hold the information instead of letting the thoughts bounce back.
Here's the thing. If I could follow the book better I'd probably give it 4 stars--I truly suspect it'd be that fun and enlightening if it was accessible. However, this is where the mismatch of author intent and execution have to be my priority when deciding how I feel about the book overall. What's the point of great content if it's too disheartening to read because it's a few too many humps of challenges to bother with? No point. I did like what I did learn, but I can't give it any more credit than the 2 stars I'll give it. If I come back, I might rebalance it in consideration of it's value of knowledge as whole versus how much of that whole I grasped as a "general audience" the first time. (