Synopsis
John Postgate, one of Britain's leading microbiologists, uses the variegated life-styles of microbes to illustrate the enormous potential of life on this planet. Since the dawn of life on Earth, the world has been gradually transformed by living things into a comfortable home for plants, animals and ourselves. But many harsh and seemingly inhospitable places remain, and it is the inhabitants of such places, mainly invisible microbes, that reveal the remarkable potential and resilience of life. How do microbes survive, even flourish, in superheated water or supercooled brine; at enormous pressures; without air; amid poisons? And what part do, and did, they play in making the Earth hospitable? Illustrated by charming vignettes, and free of technical language and diagrams, The Outer Reaches of Life provides new clues to the origin and evolution of terrestrial life and offers a glimpse of how life might have established itself elsewhere in the universe.
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Review
'... top-class popular scientific writing ' Science and Public Affairs
'This book is a delight. It is written for the general public in that no prior scientific knowledge has been assumed ... Underneath the non-technical language and the humour, we are allowed to see current microbiology displayed and interpreted by one of its most experienced and erudite students.' Chris Thurston, SGM Quarterly
Book Description
The world of microbes extends to some of the most inhospitable places on Earth. What features enable them to survive such extremes and what role have microbes played in transforming the primitive Earth and in the evolution of life itself? In this fascinating account John Postgate, one of this country's leading microbiologists, conveys to non-scientist readers something of the way in which our understanding of that largely invisible world of living things answers these and many other profound questions.
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The Outer Reaches of Life
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The Outer Reaches of Life
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The Outer Reaches of Life
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The Outer Reaches of Life
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The outer reaches of life
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