Echoes of Life

What Fossil Molecules Reveal about Earth History

Inbunden, Engelska, 2008

598 kr

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Beskrivning

In 1936 a German chemist identified certain organic molecules in ancient rocks and oils as the fossil remains of chlorophyll, presumably from plants that had lived millions of years in the past. Many years later this insight was revisited and the term biomarker coined to describe fossil molecules whose molecular structures could reveal the presence of otherwise elusive organisms and processesand then, the hunt was on. Echoes of Life is the story of those molecules and how they illuminate the history of the earth and its life. It is also the story of how a few maverick organic chemists and geologists defied the dictates of their disciplines and, at a time when the natural sciences were fragmenting into ever-more-specialized sub-disciplines, reunited chemistry, biology and geology in a common endeavor.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum:2008-11-06
Mått:236 x 157 x 30 mm
Vikt:658 g
Format:Inbunden
Språk:Engelska
Antal sidor:376
Förlag:OUP USA
ISBN:9780195176193

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Mer om författaren

Susan Gaines was trained as a chemist and oceanographer. Her short fiction has appeared in numerous literary anthologies and been nominated for the Pushcart Prize, and she is the author of the novel Carbon Dreams.Geoffrey Eglinton is Professor Emeritus at Bristol University, Adjunct Scientist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and at Dartmouth College. He is the recipient of the NASA Gold Medal, the Royal Society Queens Medal, and the 2008 Dan David Prize.Jürgen Rullkötter is a professor of organic geochemistry and Director of the Institute of Chemistry and Biology of the Marine Environment, University of Oldenburg, Germany.

Recensioner i media

Distilling the complex biochemistry and biogeology and presenting the history in a readable form is a daunting task, and Susan Gaines has done a remarkable job.

Innehållsförteckning

1. Molecular Informants: A Changing Perspective of Organic Chemistry ; 2. Looking to the Rocks: Molecular Clues to the Origin of Life ; 3. From the Moon to Mars: The Search for Extraterrestrial Life ; 4. Black Gold: An Alchemist's Guide to Petroleum ; 5. Deep Sea Mud: Biomarker Clues to Ancient Climates ; 6. More Molecules, More Mud and the Isotopic Dimension: Ancient Environments Revealed ; 7. Microbiologists (Finally) Climb on Board ; 8. Weird Molecules, Inconceivable Microbes, and Unlikely Proxies: Marine Ecology Revised ; 9. Molecular Paleontology and Biochemical Evolution ; 10. Early Life Revisited ; 11. Thinking Molecularly, Anything Goes: from Mummies to Oil Spills, Doubts to New Directions