Chemical evolution

Mason's tour de force in the history of chemistry, astrophysics, geology, and biochemistry. Topics covered in 14 chapters range from atomic structure to the origin of the universe/earth to bioenergetics-bioinformation. A brief introduction is followed by the development of the periodic table in 19th-century science; radioactivity and the distribution of elements are followed by stellar nucleosynthesis. A discussion of the interstellar medium and meteors/comets precedes coverage of the formation and evolution of the earth. Two chapters on energetics and information in living systems occupy more than one third of the book. The energetics chapter considers catalysis, glycolysis and respiration, chemiosmosis, and photosynthesis. The organic replication chapter details proteins, nucleic acids and their genetic code relationships. The penultimate chapter considers Oparin-Haldane thought and its succeeding development, including the rise of RNA-associated events (reverse transcriptase, RNA replicase, ribozymes). The last chapter explores chirality from the basic work of Pasteur, Le Bel, van't Hoff, and Fischer to mechanisms for the evolution of enantiomers. These topics involve an historical approach, with lifespans given for most of the scientists referenced. Strongly recommended for undergraduate libraries.-T. A. Cole, Wabash College--Choice Review.

This remarkable new book is for everyone interested in the origin and evolution of the universe. It relates the history of chemicals, from the earliest generation of the light elements in the Big Bang, to their transformation into heavier atoms and their subsequent molecular evolution into myriad forms, including life on Earth. Spanning both organic and inorganic chemical combinations, the survey thus covers billions of years and involves evidence coming from the analysis of long-extinct as well as ongoing processes. The techniques used in this fascinating study are also described. They include the analysis of many sources: isotopes from ancient nuclear reactions and still-active radionuclides; molecules from space--frozen in meteorites or continuously generated in vast interstellar clouds; and the detritus of volcanic and geochemical activity. This is also the story of the origin of life, which can be biochemically detected through the modern descendants of early microbial life-forms and from laboratory experiments in prebiotic chemistry. The author also describes the history of ideas in the study of chemistry and the development of modern theories on chemical evolution. This is a highly readable account of central issues and ideas in modern science that will be read with absorbing interest by a wide range of students, researchers, and general readers. Annotation Published: March 2010.