Oxygen and the Evolution of Life

This book describes the interlaced histories of life and oxygen. It opens with the generation of oxygen in ancient stars and its distribution to newly formed planets like the Earth. Free O2 was not available on the early Earth, so the first life forms had to be anaerobic. Life introduced free O2 into the environment through the evolution of photosynthesis, which must have been a disaster for many anaerobes. Others found ways to deal with the toxic reactive oxygen species and even developed a much more efficient oxygen-based metabolism. The authors vividly describe how the introduction of O2 allowed the burst of evolution that created today’s biota. They also discuss the interplay of O2 and CO2, with consequences such as worldwide glaciations and global warming. On the physiological level, they present an overview of oxidative metabolism and O2 transport, and the importance of O2 in human life and medicine, emphasizing that while oxygen is essential, it is also related to aging and many disease states.

Science & Math

Van Holde, Kensal E.

Decker, Heinz

Biological Sciences

Springer

This book depicts the interconnected histories of life and oxygen. It depict how changes in the earth's atmosphere have been interrelated with the origin of life and delineate the important implications for human health and humanity's future.

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Books by Decker, Heinz

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Decker, Heinz. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Oxygen and the Evolution of Life

Oxygen and the Evolution of Life