Autore: Donald E. Canfield
Editore: Princeton University Press
Pagine: 216
Formato: 17x24 cm
Anno: dicembre 2015
ISBN: 9780691145020
eBook | ISBN: 9781400849888 |
The air we breathe is twenty-one percent oxygen, an amount higher than on any other known world. While we may take our air for granted, Earth was not always an oxygenated planet. How did it become this way? Donald Canfield—one of the world's leading authorities on geochemistry, earth history, and the early oceans—covers this vast history, emphasizing its relationship to the evolution of life and the evolving chemistry of the Earth. Canfield guides readers through the various lines of scientific evidence, considers some of the wrong turns and dead ends along the way, and highlights the scientists and researchers who have made key discoveries in the field. Showing how Earth's atmosphere developed over time, Oxygen takes readers on a remarkable journey through the history of the oxygenation of our planet.
Donald E. Canfield is professor of ecology at the University of Southern Denmark.
Reviews:
"His excellent descriptions of the scientific process show how competing hypotheses, and the scientists who present them, vie for supremacy. Canfield also offers a philosophical perspective: scientific understanding provides true insight into the structure of the natural world."--Publishers Weekly
"Engaging and authoritative."--Nature
"An ecologist's ambitious, engrossing primer on the key atmospheric element, ranging from the 'great oxidation event' to photosynthesis."--Barbara Kiser, Nature
"Concise and easily read, Oxygen provides an ideal starting block for those interested in learning about Earth's O2 history and, more broadly, the function and history of biogeochemical cycles. . . . The endnotes provide valuable entries for readers who wish to explore particular points in greater depth and, in other cases, enable brief digressions for interesting personal notes without disrupting the logical thread of a given concept. And the detailed bibliography captures a vast swath of the relevant primary literature. I highly recommend Canfield's book for anyone with even a remote interest in Earth history, as O2 singularly encompasses much of what makes our planet special."--Woodward W. Fischer, Science
"Oxygen takes readers on a remarkable journey through the history of the oxygenation of our planet."--Devorah Bennu, GrrlScientist at The Guardian
"This is the sort of science writing we would all do well to read more of. . . . Engage[s] with the ambiguity of a world where evidence is imperfect, knowledge evolves, and mistakes can be made in interpreting the data."--Ian Scheffler, Los Angeles Review of Books