{"product_id":"oxygen-the-molecule-that-made-the-world-9780198784937","title":"Oxygen: The Molecule That Made the World","description":"Oxygen has had extraordinary effects on life. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThree hundred million years ago, in Carboniferous times, dragonflies grew as big as seagulls, with wingspans of\u003cbr\u003enearly a metre. Researchers claim they could have flown only if the air had contained more oxygen than today -\u003cbr\u003eprobably as much as 35 per cent. Giant spiders, tree-ferns, marine rock formations and fossil charcoals\u003cbr\u003eall tell the same story. High oxygen levels may also explain the global firestorm that contributed to the\u003cbr\u003edemise of the dinosaurs after the asteroid impact. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThe strange and profound effects that oxygen has had on the evolution of life pose a riddle, which this book\u003cbr\u003esets out to answer. Oxygen is a toxic gas. Divers breathing pure oxygen at depth suffer from convulsions\u003cbr\u003eand lung injury. Fruit flies raised at twice normal atmospheric levels of oxygen live half as long as their\u003cbr\u003esiblings. Reactive forms of oxygen, known as free radicals, are thought to cause ageing in people. Yet if\u003cbr\u003eatmospheric oxygen reached 35 per cent in the Carboniferous, why did it promote exuberant growth, \u003cbr\u003einstead of rapid ageing and death? \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cem\u003eOxygen\u003c\/em\u003e takes the reader on an enthralling journey, as gripping as a thriller, as it unravels the unexpected\u003cbr\u003eways in which oxygen spurred the evolution of life and death. The book explains far more than the size of\u003cbr\u003eancient 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. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eDrawing on this grand evolutionary canvas, \u003cem\u003eOxygen\u003c\/em\u003e offers fresh perspectives on our own lives and deaths, \u003cbr\u003eexplaining modern killer diseases, why we age, and what we can do about it. Advancing revelatory new ideas, \u003cbr\u003efollowing chains of evidence, the book ranges through many disciplines, from environmental sciences to\u003cbr\u003emolecular medicine. The result is a captivating vision of contemporary science and a humane synthesis of our\u003cbr\u003eplace in nature. This remarkable book might just redefine the way we think about the world. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eOxford Landmark Science books are 'must-read' classics of modern science writing which have crystallized big ideas, and shaped the way we think.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNick Lane, \u003cem\u003eReader in Evolutionary Biochemistry, Research Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College of London\u003c\/em\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eDr Nick Lane is a British biochemist and writer. He was awarded the first Provost's Venture Research Prize in the Department of Genetics, Evolution, and Environment at University College London, where he is now a Reader in Evolutionary Biochemistry. Dr Lane's research deals with evolutionary biochemistry and bioenergetics, focusing on the origin of life and the evolution of complex cells. Dr Lane was a founding member of the UCL Consortium for Mitochondrial Research, and is leading the UCL Research Frontiers Origins of Life programme. He was awarded the 2011 BMC Research Award for Genetics, Genomics, Bioinformatics and Evolution, and the 2015 Biochemical Society Award for his sustained and diverse contribution to the molecular life sciences and the public understanding of science. His books include \u003cem\u003eOxygen: The Molecule that Made the World\u003c\/em\u003e (OUP, 2002), and \u003cem\u003ePower, Sex, Suicide: Mitochondria and the Meaning of Life\u003c\/em\u003e (OUP, 2005).\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Oxford University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50565505122578,"sku":"9780198784937","price":24.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_3b7f4632-1b38-4579-a67b-6db26facf7b3.jpg?v=1731886188","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/oxygen-the-molecule-that-made-the-world-9780198784937","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}