Oxygen has had extraordinary effects on life. Three hundred million years ago, in Carboniferous times, dragonflies grew as big as seagulls, with wingspans of nearly 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 charcoals all tell the same story. High oxygen levels may also explain the global firestorm that contributed to the demise 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 book sets out to answer. Oxygen is a toxic gas. Divers breathing pure oxygen at depth suffer from convulsions and lung injury. Fruit flies raised at twice normal atmospheric levels of oxygen live half as long as their siblings. Reactive forms of oxygen, known as free radicals, are thought to cause ageing in people. Yet if atmospheric 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 unexpected ways in which oxygen spurred the evolution of life and death. The book explains far more than the size of ancient 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 to molecular medicine. The result is a captivating vision of contemporary science and a humane synthesis of our place in nature. This remarkable book will redefine the way we think about the world.
Oxygen: The molecule that made the world (Popular Science)
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A wonderful book... a scientific saga as compelling as any creation myth and Lane tells it with appropriate zeal -- Tim Lenton, Times Higher Educational Supplement
Enthralling... An excellent book. It held me spellbound for a 7 hour plane flight. I recommend it unreservedly -- Barry Halliwell, Free Radical Research
Enthralling... An excellent book. It held me spellbound for a 7 hour plane flight. I recommend it unreservedly -- Barry Halliwell, Free Radical Research
From the Back Cover
'...popular science writing at its very best - clear yet challenging, speculative yet rigorous. The book is a tour de force which orchestrates a seamless story out of both venerable ideas and very recent discoveries in several disparate fields.'
Bernard Dixon
Bernard Dixon
'... a breathtaking, broad vision of the role of a single gas in our life, from the origin of organisms, through the emergence of creatures, and to their deaths ... packed full of interesting life- and death-stories .... A wonderful read.'
Peter Atkins
'... one of the most thought-provoking books I have ever read.'
John Emsley
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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OXYGEN DEFIES EASY CLASSIFICATION. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index
OXYGEN DEFIES EASY CLASSIFICATION. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
44 of 45 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Hardcover
This book gives a very broad and thoughtful perspective on the importance of oxygen in the development of life on Earth. The chain of reasoning is long and brings to contact discoveries from a series of disciplines otherwise apparently unrelated to each other. In this aspect lies one of the greatest strengths of this book, as it shows, as few have been able to shown, how important it is to have a broad perspective and an open mind to undertake a scientific research program. Besides, the author is most critic to the current trends in medical research, most of them can be traced back to such problems as over-specialisation, and lack of knowledge from nearby research fields. The huge amounts of data accumulating every day leaving no time to reduce it properly and put it coherently in a workable body of knowledge does not help either.
What does this book deal with? Oxygen is an all-important molecule, which is fundamental to life, however it is also a threatening and toxic element as well. Through this book, Nick Lane explains the importance oxygen had in the evolution of life. How it is inferred that our Last Universal Common Ancestor (LUCA) possessed already a series of genes and proteins that lasted until our present days. How these have developed in response to oxidation stress from the environment. How the responses are similar to an organism's reaction to an infectious disease. How this is related to diseases such as Alzheimer, cancer and diabetes. How this can give clues to unravel the secrets of ageing in organisms and the search for better ways to extend a person's life span.
The book covers the early biological, atmospheric, and geological evolution of the Earth. It presents basic biochemical reaction mechanisms. It covers biology and medical research.
... Read more ›8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
By Fubar Bohica
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
The truly fascinating story of how oxygen shaped our world and ourselves. Without oxygen and the life it made possible, the Earth today would look like Mars; we need oxygen to survive, yet it causes our bodies to deteriorate and eventually succumb to disease. If nothing else kills you, just breathing will!
Writing objectively and entertainingly about science is a challenge that Nick Lane pulls off brilliantly in this book. Lay readers like me should be grateful that the author has resisted the temptation to over-simplify, for mass market consumption, such a richly complex subject area as this. Consequently one does need to concentrate in order to follow the plot, but Lane's way of connecting scientific ideas through their evolutionary history provides a sure thread - a thread strung with many pearls. Time after time, through painstaking research and brilliant insights, scientific notions arrive and have their day, only to be demolished by new evidence and replaced by a new paradigm. The chapters unfold like detective stories, with sub-plots, twists and turns in mankind's long struggle to understand. By the end one feels as well informed as anyone else on the planet and ready to explore the side-avenues of knowledge lying wait in the many literature sources cited.
Writing objectively and entertainingly about science is a challenge that Nick Lane pulls off brilliantly in this book. Lay readers like me should be grateful that the author has resisted the temptation to over-simplify, for mass market consumption, such a richly complex subject area as this. Consequently one does need to concentrate in order to follow the plot, but Lane's way of connecting scientific ideas through their evolutionary history provides a sure thread - a thread strung with many pearls. Time after time, through painstaking research and brilliant insights, scientific notions arrive and have their day, only to be demolished by new evidence and replaced by a new paradigm. The chapters unfold like detective stories, with sub-plots, twists and turns in mankind's long struggle to understand. By the end one feels as well informed as anyone else on the planet and ready to explore the side-avenues of knowledge lying wait in the many literature sources cited.
24 of 26 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book sets out the complex relationship between oxygen and life. In particular Lane discusses how organisms have adapted to using oxygen for respiration despite the inevitable production of damaging free radicals. These leads on to the role of anti-oxidants and ageing.
The concepts are introduced thick and fast. By the end you will be an expert on the differences between the Dispoable Soma and Antagonistic Pleitropy theories of ageing! However, the use of diagrams and illustrations is sparing and a general reader will find several chapters a struggle. Some sections read like a biochemistry text book and it is also unclear when he deviates from mainstream thinking into more controversial theories.
A readable account, but this belies the level of difficulty of some of the concepts and pushes it somewhat beyond the popular science genre.
The concepts are introduced thick and fast. By the end you will be an expert on the differences between the Dispoable Soma and Antagonistic Pleitropy theories of ageing! However, the use of diagrams and illustrations is sparing and a general reader will find several chapters a struggle. Some sections read like a biochemistry text book and it is also unclear when he deviates from mainstream thinking into more controversial theories.
A readable account, but this belies the level of difficulty of some of the concepts and pushes it somewhat beyond the popular science genre.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By silverhazel
Format:Paperback
Absolutely loved this book, although it took me a month to get through. Having studied biochemistry at university I found that many of the concepts in the book were familiar to me (such as respiration, photosynthesis, and oxygen free radicals), but perhaps a reader with a more casual interest in science might struggle in places. Half of the book dwells heavily upon a very detailed history of the evolution of early life forms on the planet- perhaps for a bit too long really- but remains readable and interesting throughout. However, for me the second half was more exciting, with its discussion of antioxidants and the 'darker side' to Vitamin C, some revelations about the strong link between the fecundity and the longevity of a species, and how oxidative stress underlies all age-related diseases.
This book will make you feel an awful lot more well-informed about aging and about the evolution of life, and is reassuringly optimistic about the former, stating that: "aging is neither programmed nor inevitable".
This book will make you feel an awful lot more well-informed about aging and about the evolution of life, and is reassuringly optimistic about the former, stating that: "aging is neither programmed nor inevitable".
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By M. F. Cayley
Format:Paperback
The book explores in depth the role of oxygen in the history of life on earth, and in ageing. In the process it takes the reader into some quite complex science. It is a tribute to Nick Lane that he keeps everything comprehensible to the non-expert without dumbing down: though at times quite a bit of concentration is required to follow the full detail. He is good on bringing together insights from different scientific disciplines. Above all, he draws out the uncertainties of science, and the way key theories often need to be jettisoned or revised, or may not fit all the evidence. This is popular science writing at its best.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Oxygen: The molecule that made the world, by Nick Lane
I love Nick Lane's books because he gives you the real science and doesn't over-simplify. Having only just started this one, I am looking forward to at least a week of happy... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Pauline O'Hara
5.0 out of 5 stars
Oxygen, good and bad.
The book is difficult but makes you remember chemistry from school. I am old so I wanted to know about aging.
Published 2 months ago by Lena Moszkowicz
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fills the gaps
This book pulls together some of the latest scientific thinking about how we all came to be. It can be heavy going in places for a non scientist but but the writing is lively... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Chris Newman
5.0 out of 5 stars
Very informative but dense
This book is very well written and informative. There is lots of information here about the role of oxygen in the body. Read more
Published 17 months ago by Clothears
5.0 out of 5 stars
Intriguing Science.
A very thought provoking topic, and a good ,but not always easy read for the layman.Worth persevering with. Read more
Published 18 months ago by G. Hodgson
3.0 out of 5 stars
Challenging!
I found this book pretty hard going with a lot of information about changing climates at the beginning of the book which was a bit boring to be honest. Read more
Published 24 months ago by Popular Science Fan
5.0 out of 5 stars
Incredibly fascinating
Fascinating book which covers how oxygen is involved in our prehistory to the present.
The first part covers prehistoric times to the present. Read more
The first part covers prehistoric times to the present. Read more
Published on 4 July 2010 by Fantasyreader
5.0 out of 5 stars
Oxygen
An outstanding book. Only critiscm would be that it was written some 10 years ago and in the meantime some new discoveries have been made and therefore some statements are actually... Read more
Published on 3 April 2010 by Dr. G. C. Pietzsch
5.0 out of 5 stars
Accessible science
I really enjoyed 'Oxygen: the molecule that made the world' by Nick Lane. He structures the book as a discussion about the good and bad effects of oxygen, dispelling many myths... Read more
Published on 3 Jan 2009 by Eoghain O'Keeffe
5.0 out of 5 stars
A must have for the inquiring mind.
This is an extraordinary book. The breadth of coverage- from the Last Universal Common Ancestor to sex and death, via geology and biochemistry, means this is not for the... Read more
Published on 8 Jun 2008 by J. Carr
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