Items related to Silica Stories

Silica Stories - Softcover

De La Rocha, Christina; Conley, Daniel J.

 
9783319853062: Silica Stories
Softcover
ISBN 10: 3319853066 ISBN 13: 9783319853062
Publisher: Springer, 2018

Synopsis

Do you know silica, the tetrahedra of silicon and oxygen constituting the crystals of New Agers and the desiccant in a box of new shoes?  It's no mere mundane mineral. As chemically reacting silicate rocks, silica set off the chain of events known as the origin of life. As biomineralized opal, it is the cell wall, skeleton, spicules, and scales of organisms ornamenting numerous lobes of the tree of life. Cryptocrystalline silica made into stone tools helped drive the evolution of our hands and our capability for complex grammar, music, and mathematics. As quartz crystals, silica is impressively electric and ubiquitous in modern technology (think sonar, radios, telephones, ultrasound, and cheap but precise watches). Silica is inescapable when we take a drink or mow the lawn and it has already started to save the Earth from the carbon dioxide we're spewing into the atmosphere. This book tells these scientific tales and more, to give dear, modest silica its due.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

About the Author

Christina De La Rocha
http://www.geology.lu.se/christina-de-la-rocha 

Christina De La Rocha is a Visiting Scientist at the Department of Geology at Lund University, Sweden. She has previously been a Lecturer in Earth Sciences (University of Cambridge, UK), Senior Scientist (Alfred Wegener Institute for Marine and Polar Research, Germany), and Professor of Marine Science (Université de Bretagne Occidentale, France). She has co-edited a previous book (Work Meets Life: Exploring the Integrative Study of Work in Living Systems) and started to write short science fiction (Pleistocene Brains).


Daniel Conley
http://www.geology.lu.se/daniel-conley

Daniel Conley is Professor of  Biogeochemistry (Lund University, Sweden), Wallenberg Scholar, and Pew Fellow.



From the Back Cover

Do you know silica, the tetrahedra of silicon and oxygen constituting the crystals of New Agers and the desiccant in a box of new shoes?  It's no mere mundane mineral. As chemically reacting silicate rocks, silica set off the chain of events known as the origin of life. As biomineralized opal, it is the cell wall, skeleton, spicules, and scales of organisms ornamenting numerous lobes of the tree of life. Cryptocrystalline silica made into stone tools helped drive the evolution of our hands and our capability for complex grammar, music, and mathematics. As quartz crystals, silica is impressively electric and ubiquitous in modern technology (think sonar, radios, telephones, ultrasound, and cheap but precise watches). Silica is inescapable when we take a drink or mow the lawn and it has already started to save the Earth from the carbon dioxide we're spewing into the atmosphere. This book tells these scientific tales and more, to give dear, modest silica its due.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.

Publisher
Springer
Publication date
2018
Language
English
ISBN 10 
3319853066
ISBN 13 
9783319853062
Binding
Paperback
Number of pages
212