Coral: A Pessimist in Paradise [Hardcover]

This splendid book joins science with history politics, myths and literature. Coral takes you on a spectacular journey of enlightenment with an unlikely group of individuals - Darwin, Captain Cook, Gauguin on Tahiti, as well as a visit to Bikini Atoll where atomic bombs were tested and false promises were made to unfortunate islanders.

The author's sparkling narrative reveals fascinating information on coral - a tiny creature with astonishing engineering skill; creatures whose DNA relates close to our own, and is almost as complex and in some ways superior to our own. Human's stewardship of Earth has been far from exemplary and under our heavy footprint many species are in sharp decline. Others have succumbed and are no more. Perhaps through our own greed and exploitation of the planet's resources we, too, are precariously close to the point of no return.

Coral is without a doubt a five star read

The world of coral seems so distant and obscure. Tropical lagoons or long stretches of underwater realm. To us, it may be a paradisical mystery, remote and hidden with little to offer to our daily lives. Steve Jones, whose career has centred on these strange creatures, knows better. Those silent, tiny creatures which are capable of vast engineering monuments have much to convey - about our world and ourselves. With a strong facility in writing about nature and the science studying it, he gives us a fascinating look at the world beneath the waves.

It begins with Darwin, of course, as any writing about life should. Charles Darwin's voyage in HMS Beagle was about much more than finches and iguanas. Beyond the Galapagos Islands, he travelled across the Pacific, encountering numerous reef-girdled islands. Studying them closely, he reasoned that coral reefs surrounding the islands were the result of their sinking centres. It was this discovery that made his reputation as a naturalist long before the publication of "Origin". He had noted that corals cannot thrive in deep water, away from the sun's nourishing light. That observation, as Jones goes on to explain, would later lead to momentous discoveries, some of them of significant medical importance. As a tribute to Darwin's discoveries, nearly all the illustrations in this book are his maps of various coral-ringed islands.

Among the captivating facts Jones provides us is that some polyps, such as the Hydra, are immortal. The genetic commands leading to ageing and death in creatures such as ourselves, don't function in the polyps. They just go on budding and proliferating so long as conditions permit. The quest to understand polyps like Hydra was long on the track. The Romans, Jones explains, understood their need for water to survive, but it was two millennia before serious advances took place. Only in the 18th Century did an unacknowledged French researcher deem them animals and not plants. Modern molecular biology has demonstrated that polyp DNA is nearly as large and complex as that of the "higher animals". Their harsh living conditions have developed complex protective systems we are only now beginning to comprehend. Oxygen, which we need to live, is also an effective tissue destroyer. The polyps, with their tiny, vulnerable bodies, have devised means of coping with that. Their methods are far superior to ours, and all the antioxidants we consume to fight ageing are of little worth.

Coral makes stone, the foundations of reefs being limestone the living polyps build on over the ages. As the seas rise and fall, the coral either extends its bastion or dies off, awaiting better times. The key to their survival is more than simply the availability of a watery home. Temperature changes, the proportion of atmospheric gases and pollutants scythe the polyps down. They are clearly under threat just at a time when knowledge of them can be put to effective use. Jones uses this knowledge to extend our recognition of the polyps' role in life. To explain the importance of coral, he follows the history and personalities that have, one way or another, contributed to our understanding. His reach encompasses such elements as the painter Gaugin and the unexpected contribution of De Beers' diamond monopoly. No stone, especially if made by Jones' favourite creature, is to be left unturned. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

I can highly recommend Steve Jones' book. I've read several of his and this, in my opinion, is his most accomplished. It has a grand sweep of ideas and manages to cover many different topics and issues absolutely seamlessly. There are endless side-facts and anecdotes that are also woven into the story he has to tell without ever interrupting the main themes. Not only is Steve Jones a fascinating raconteur and expert guide on natural systems, he is also an excellent writer by any standards. The writing is so good, that it sweeps you along much in the way a good novel does. It is this, more than anything, that sets him above much of the rest of popular science writing today.