‘Life on a Young Planet: The First Three Billion Years of Evolution on Earth’ by Andrew Knoll
Life on a Young Planet presents a review of life on Earth from origins to the emergence of animals. The origin and evolution of life on Earth covers a vast range of scientific ideas from prebiotic chemistry to ancient climatology. Andrew Knoll successfully brings these seemingly disparate topics together into an engaging and well-structured account. The story is enlivened by the author’s personal experience, without overshadowing the main themes. After providing the reader with a solid grounding in the relationship of organisms in the tree of life, the author takes us to the Proterozoic of...
Read More‘Life in the Universe: Expectations and Constraints’ by Dirk Schulze-Makuch and Louis N. Irwin
This new publication by Schulze-Makuch and Irwin serves as a second edition to their 2004 book, and certainly does a good job in updating the material to the very cutting-edge of on-going research. Advances since the previous edition have included the detection of a horde of new exoplanets, results beamed back from the Mars Exploration Rovers, Huygens’ views of the hydrocarbon-soaked landscape of Titan, and the discovery of water geysers spewing out of the south pole of Enceladus. All of these developments are included in this update. Like the first edition, the major strength of...
Read More‘Life in the Universe: A Beginner’s Guide’ by Lewis Dartnell
Astrobiology, the study of life and its existence in the universe, is now one of the hottest areas of scientific research, fusing together biology, chemistry, astrophysics, and geology. In this masterful introduction, Lewis Dartnell tours its latest findings, and explores some of the most fascinating questions in science. I found the book approachable and readable on several levels. It is part of a series called “Beginner’s Guides” and it serves that purpose well. Interestingly, it does not talk down to the reader. After a gentle, friendly introduction it starts discussing...
Read More‘Life in Space: Astrobiology for Everyone’ by Lucas John Mix
“What is life, what does it mean, and what is our place in it all?” asks Lucas Mix, and has a satisfyingly rigorous stab at answering all three. Life in Space offers a very solid review of the diverse range of research fields that constitute modern astrobiology. Mix edited The Astrobiology Primer, version 1 (Astrobiology 6(5), p735-813, 2006) and the experience has clearly given him a very broad appreciation of the various aspects of astrobiology. Indeed, many of the references given in Life in Space are back to this review publication. The book starts by explaining various...
Read More‘Life in Ancient Ice’ by John D. Castello & Scott O. Rogers (eds)
There is a surprisingly high biodiversity within seemingly inaccessible and inhospitable icy habitats on Earth. This book explains about this icy life in the context of its possible delivery, the specific environmental characteristics of each habitat, the methods of scientific study and exploration of these environments, recommended methods to prevent contamination, questions still to answer, and the possible consequences of the re-animation and re-introduction of supposed long extinct biota into the Homo sapien-dominated regions of the world. Even though the majority of the book is split...
Read More‘Life Ascending: The Ten Great Inventions of Evolution’ by Nick Lane
In Life Ascending, Nick Lane, Honorary Reader at University College London, talks us through what he believes to be the ten greatest inventions of evolution on Earth, and succeeds in making a very convincing case for each one. In deciding which of the multitude of biological innovations to include, Lane explains that he has primarily guided himself by the evolutionary inventions that have not only most revolutionised life on Earth, but also those inventions that have revolutionised the planet itself. The development of oxygenic photosynthesis by cyanobacteria, and the profound shifts in the...
Read More