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Nick Lane

Oxygen: The molecule that made the world

Oxygen is vital to life, and so most people would see it as beneficial. But if you read Oxygen: The molecule that made the world by Nick Lane then you may come to see it in a different light - as much a poison as a protector. We all know about how antioxidants are supposed to help us. Lane gives a critical look at some of the claims made for them, but goes on to consider how understanding the effect of oxygen on our bodies may indeed lead to new ways of dealing with ageing an disease - a subject of interest to us all.

The book also has plenty to say about the role of oxygen in evolution. Seeing oxygen as a poison gives a new outlook on the coming of photosynthesis and of multicellular organisms. Lane introduces some of the recent ideas which have revolutionised our understanding of the first few billion years of life on this planet.

As for difficulty, well I would say that a complete beginner might struggle with some of the book, but it's certainly easier than his 2005 book on Mitochondria - Oxygen would be a good starter for those who find his later book hard going.

Amazon.com info

Paperback 384 pages
ISBN: 0198607830
Salesrank: 122346
Weight:0.65 lbs

Published: 2004 Oxford University Press, USA

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Amazon.co.uk info

Paperback 384 pages
ISBN: 0198607830
Salesrank: 40457
Weight:0.65 lbs

Published: 2003 Oxford University Press

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Amazon.ca info

Paperback 384 pages
ISBN: 0198607830
Salesrank: 13199
Weight:0.65 lbs

Published: 2003 Oxford University Press

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Product Description
In Oxygen, Nick Lane takes the reader on an enthralling journey as he unravels the unexpected ways in which oxygen spurred the evolution of life and death. He 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 aging of cloned animals like Dolly the sheep, and the surprisingly long lives of bats and birds. Drawing on this grand evolutionary canvas, Oxygen offers fresh perspectives on our own lives and deaths, explaining modern killer diseases, why we age, and what we can do about it. Advancing revelatory new ideas, following chains of evidence, the book ranges through many disciplines, from environmental sciences to molecular medicine. The result is a captivating vision of contemporary science and a humane synthesis of our place in nature. This remarkable book will redefine the way we think about the world.

Product Description

In Oxygen, Nick Lane takes the reader on an enthralling journey as he unravels the unexpected ways in which oxygen spurred the evolution of life and death. He 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 aging of cloned animals like Dolly the sheep, and the surprisingly long lives of bats and birds. Drawing on this grand evolutionary canvas, Oxygen offers fresh perspectives on our own lives and deaths, explaining modern killer diseases, why we age, and what we can do about it. Advancing revelatory new ideas, following chains of evidence, the book ranges through many disciplines, from environmental sciences to molecular medicine. The result is a captivating vision of contemporary science and a humane synthesis of our place in nature. This remarkable book will redefine the way we think about the world.

Fascinating *****
This book is a hard read if you don't have a good background in natural science and chemistry, but if you do it is fascinating. The author seems to do a very balanced approach to the topics citing references on both sides of the issues discussed. The book takes you from the formation of the earth to modern times and discusses the changes that occurred to the earth and its inhabitants as free oxygen developed.

Fascinating *****

This book is a hard read if you don't have a good background in natural science and chemistry, but if you do it is fascinating.

The author seems to do a very balanced approach to the topics citing references on both sides of the issues discussed.

The book takes you from the formation of the earth to modern times and discusses the changes that occurred to the earth and its inhabitants as free oxygen developed.

Oxygen *****
A review for science teachers: Nick Lane in Oxygen: the molecule that made the world [OUP 2002] presents the history of the world as narrated by a biochemist. Controversial, thought provoking and very original, Oxygen synthesises Earth's geology, why there is life on Earth but not on Mars, the evolution of photosynthesis (and respiration), why there are only exactly two sexes and why we age. Earth's oxygen was liberated when uv light split water; the hydrogen first escaped into space but the oxygen remained, reacting with the rocks, forming reactive free radicals. 3.85 Billion years ago, LUCA (the Last Universal Common Ancestor; a concept not a fossil) had to have antioxidant enzymes, all of which survive in living organisms today: haemoglobin, oxide dismutase, catalase, peroxiredoxins, and could respire oxygen. Twinned catalase units formed the basis for water-splitting, oxygen producing photosynthesis, that arose only once on earth and may be unique in the cosmos, generating a positive feedback cycle where excess oxygen now recombined with hydrogen to form water. Water was the first gift of photosynthesis. The second was oxygen itself. Every year, there seems to be one outstanding popular science book. I loved this one for its fusion of ideas: snowball Earth; the difference between mitochondria in animals that age quickly with those with high metabolic rates that are long lived, why women's ova remain in suspended animation after birth, not dividing. Oxide radicals are a consistent theme in the explanations.

Oxygen *****

A review for science teachers:

Nick Lane in Oxygen: the molecule that made the world [OUP 2002] presents the history of the world as narrated by a biochemist. Controversial, thought provoking and very original, Oxygen synthesises Earth's geology, why there is life on Earth but not on Mars, the evolution of photosynthesis (and respiration), why there are only exactly two sexes and why we age.

Earth's oxygen was liberated when uv light split water; the hydrogen first escaped into space but the oxygen remained, reacting with the rocks, forming reactive free radicals. 3.85 Billion years ago, LUCA (the Last Universal Common Ancestor; a concept not a fossil) had to have antioxidant enzymes, all of which survive in living organisms today: haemoglobin, oxide dismutase, catalase, peroxiredoxins, and could respire oxygen. Twinned catalase units formed the basis for water-splitting, oxygen producing photosynthesis, that arose only once on earth and may be unique in the cosmos, generating a positive feedback cycle where excess oxygen now recombined with hydrogen to form water. Water was the first gift of photosynthesis. The second was oxygen itself.

Every year, there seems to be one outstanding popular science book. I loved this one for its fusion of ideas: snowball Earth; the difference between mitochondria in animals that age quickly with those with high metabolic rates that are long lived, why women's ova remain in suspended animation after birth, not dividing. Oxide radicals are a consistent theme in the explanations.

The best book of its kind? *****
This is the only really good book I've read about the evolution, history and chemistry of life. It's especially good when it is least philosophical. As when pondering over the likely order of ways to handle elemental oxygen - as it (or it's relatives peroxide or superoxide) most probably had to be handlet even before it was produced by plants. - And here are no tiresome stories about geologists having to travel around. It's on topic and well written.

The best book of its kind? *****

This is the only really good book I've read about the evolution, history and chemistry of life. It's especially good when it is least philosophical. As when pondering over the likely order of ways to handle elemental oxygen - as it (or it's relatives peroxide or superoxide) most probably had to be handlet even before it was produced by plants. - And here are no tiresome stories about geologists having to travel around. It's on topic and well written.

Another great book by Lane *****
Although not quite as pulled together as "Power, Sex, Suicide", this is a wonderful account of modern biochemistry. There are fresh ideas on nearly every page and his writing is amazingly clear. I realized halfway through that there are very few diagrams in the text, yet I felt like I didn't need any; a rarity for any science book. It may be a little tough going if you haven't had some chemistry/biology background, but it seems like it would be accessible to most readers with a undergrad science background.

Another great book by Lane *****

Although not quite as pulled together as "Power, Sex, Suicide", this is a wonderful account of modern biochemistry. There are fresh ideas on nearly every page and his writing is amazingly clear. I realized halfway through that there are very few diagrams in the text, yet I felt like I didn't need any; a rarity for any science book.

It may be a little tough going if you haven't had some chemistry/biology background, but it seems like it would be accessible to most readers with a undergrad science background.

Excellence in science writing *****
This is an outstanding book I recommend to anyone interested in undestanding how modern science is advancing its world view. The book connects seemingly disparate topics ranging from the origin of life, ageing and other day-to-day concerns with one another via the web of evolution. A relaxing yet illuminating read

Excellence in science writing *****

This is an outstanding book I recommend to anyone interested in undestanding how modern science is advancing its world view. The book connects seemingly disparate topics ranging from the origin of life, ageing and other day-to-day concerns with one another via the web of evolution. A relaxing yet illuminating read

A must have for the inquiring mind. *****
This is an extraordinary book. The breadth of coverage- from the Last Universal Common Ancestor to sex and death, via geology and biochemistry, means this is not for the faint-hearted. If you want a book that will actually change the way you view the world then this is the one for you. An absolutely astonishing achievement.

A must have for the inquiring mind. *****

This is an extraordinary book. The breadth of coverage- from the Last Universal Common Ancestor to sex and death, via geology and biochemistry, means this is not for the faint-hearted.

If you want a book that will actually change the way you view the world then this is the one for you. An absolutely astonishing achievement.

Engaging and satisfying *****
The truly fascinating story of how oxygen shaped our world and ourselves. Without oxygen and the life it made possible, the Earth today would look like Mars; we need oxygen to survive, yet it causes our bodies to deteriorate and eventually succumb to disease. If nothing else kills you, just breathing will! Writing objectively and entertainingly about science is a challenge that Nick Lane pulls off brilliantly in this book. Lay readers like me should be grateful that the author has resisted the temptation to over-simplify, for mass market consumption, such a richly complex subject area as this. Consequently one does need to concentrate in order to follow the plot, but Lane's way of connecting scientific ideas through their evolutionary history provides a sure thread - a thread strung with many pearls. Time after time, through painstaking research and brilliant insights, scientific notions arrive and have their day, only to be demolished by new evidence and replaced by a new paradigm. The chapters unfold like detective stories, with sub-plots, twists and turns in mankind's long struggle to understand. By the end one feels as well informed as anyone else on the planet and ready to explore the side-avenues of knowledge lying wait in the many literature sources cited.

Engaging and satisfying *****

The truly fascinating story of how oxygen shaped our world and ourselves. Without oxygen and the life it made possible, the Earth today would look like Mars; we need oxygen to survive, yet it causes our bodies to deteriorate and eventually succumb to disease. If nothing else kills you, just breathing will!

Writing objectively and entertainingly about science is a challenge that Nick Lane pulls off brilliantly in this book. Lay readers like me should be grateful that the author has resisted the temptation to over-simplify, for mass market consumption, such a richly complex subject area as this. Consequently one does need to concentrate in order to follow the plot, but Lane's way of connecting scientific ideas through their evolutionary history provides a sure thread - a thread strung with many pearls. Time after time, through painstaking research and brilliant insights, scientific notions arrive and have their day, only to be demolished by new evidence and replaced by a new paradigm. The chapters unfold like detective stories, with sub-plots, twists and turns in mankind's long struggle to understand. By the end one feels as well informed as anyone else on the planet and ready to explore the side-avenues of knowledge lying wait in the many literature sources cited.

So well written it was a pleasure to read. *****
I found myself really enjoying this book right from the start. It reignited my fascination with chemistry and biology which had lain dormant for many years. Thoroughly recommended.

So well written it was a pleasure to read. *****

I found myself really enjoying this book right from the start. It reignited my fascination with chemistry and biology which had lain dormant for many years. Thoroughly recommended.

Tough Going ***
This book sets out the complex relationship between oxygen and life. In particular Lane discusses how organisms have adapted to using oxygen for respiration despite the inevitable production of damaging free radicals. These leads on to the role of anti-oxidants and ageing. The concepts are introduced thick and fast. By the end you will be an expert on the differences between the Dispoable Soma and Antagonistic Pleitropy theories of ageing! However, the use of diagrams and illustrations is sparing and a general reader will find several chapters a struggle. Some sections read like a biochemistry text book and it is also unclear when he deviates from mainstream thinking into more controversial theories. A readable account, but this belies the level of difficulty of some of the concepts and pushes it somewhat beyond the popular science genre.

Tough Going ***

This book sets out the complex relationship between oxygen and life. In particular Lane discusses how organisms have adapted to using oxygen for respiration despite the inevitable production of damaging free radicals. These leads on to the role of anti-oxidants and ageing.

The concepts are introduced thick and fast. By the end you will be an expert on the differences between the Dispoable Soma and Antagonistic Pleitropy theories of ageing! However, the use of diagrams and illustrations is sparing and a general reader will find several chapters a struggle. Some sections read like a biochemistry text book and it is also unclear when he deviates from mainstream thinking into more controversial theories.

A readable account, but this belies the level of difficulty of some of the concepts and pushes it somewhat beyond the popular science genre.

Unforgettable *****
I recommend this book, top stuff as his latest book "Power, Sex, Suicide: Mitochondria and the Meaning of Life" a must read for all biologists,Biochemists,etc

Unforgettable *****

I recommend this book, top stuff as his latest book "Power, Sex, Suicide: Mitochondria and the Meaning of Life" a must read for all biologists,Biochemists,etc

More than you can ask for in a book. *****
The story of Oxygen in the earth environment is detailed, but goes further in its side explanations of the many various subjects related to this story. The mystery of photosenthesis was clearly explained at the molecular lever in such detail as were the other submentioned processes of this book. I found this man to be a genius of knowledge, seeming to know something about everything. I do not know how to write books, but If I did, it would be this way. You will never go wrong remembering the author and buying what he writes. A 10+ in my experience.

More than you can ask for in a book. *****

The story of Oxygen in the earth environment is detailed, but
goes further in its side explanations of the many various subjects
related to this story. The mystery of photosenthesis was clearly
explained at the molecular lever in such detail as were the other
submentioned processes of this book. I found this man to be a
genius of knowledge, seeming to know something about everything.
I do not know how to write books, but If I did, it would be this way. You will never go wrong remembering the author and buying
what he writes. A 10+ in my experience.

Great book *****
Fascinating book. The author really knows his stuff and puts together a very persuasive story of how evolution was affected by Oxygen. Although some technical info through me at times, practically every page had some interesting tidbit. I found it hard to put down.

Great book *****

Fascinating book. The author really knows his stuff and puts together a very persuasive story of how evolution was affected by Oxygen. Although some technical info through me at times, practically every page had some interesting tidbit. I found it hard to put down.

A lot of information about a lot of different topics! *****
Nick Lane's book, Oxygen The Molecule that made the World, is a surprising volume. It mixes organic and inorganic chemistry with evolutionary studies, paleontology, research medicine, and even a little engineering to explain how the world got to be as it is. The first half of the book is dedicated to what our early atmosphere was like and how it changed as a result of biological activity. It also discusses how the evolving atmosphere, particularly the presence of oxygen, affected the complexity of early life and the sudden flourish of biological diversity after the Precambrian. The last half of the volume deals with the recent research on free radicals and their effect on health and on the phenomena of aging and of immortality. Doctor Lane's own background is in biochemistry, and his research focus has been on oxygen free radicals and metabolic function in organ transplants. Not surprisingly he went into some detail about the free radical cascade that affects cellular metabolism and DNA integrity. I found this somewhat difficult to understand as I have only a very rudimentary grounding in organic chemistry. Still I have to admit that I know somewhat more about the process than I did before reading this book. Probably because I know significantly more about geology and paleontology, I enjoyed more fully the author's synthesis and analysis of what we know of the geological and biological development of our atmosphere and our planet. Some of this material was familiar to me from other sources: Certainly that O2 can actually be a "poison" I know from managing patients with ARDS (adult respiratory distress syndrome) on mechanical ventilators with 100% O2; that the earth went through a series of green house earth/snowball earth phases early in its history I had learned from Ward and Brownlee's book Rare Earth; that life had begun almost as early as it was able and much earlier than had been previously believed, I was aware of from works by Gould, Schopf, and others; and that the mitochondria may once have been free-living, aerobic organisms that formed a symbiotic relationship with anaerobic organisms was known to me from my past exposure to microbiology in a nursing class. New to me however, was the concept that gigantism may have been a means of limiting the negative effects of a periodic increase in oxygen in the environment, as Dr. Lane suggests in his chapter on The Bolsover Dragonfly. Although I had read an article that suggested that the immense sizes achieved by some of the dinosaur species might have been due to a higher percent of O2 at the time, I had also understood that it was because oxygen was a "good" thing, an opportunity of sorts. Lane points out that the negative effects of oxygen on tissues and DNA through the free radical cascade might have been ameliorated by an increased size. An animal--or one presumes also a plant--that increased its size might have been able to distribute negative effects over a greater body mass. One wonders if the rise of the mammalian mega fauna of the ice ages and their sudden almost catastrophic disappearance might not also have been due to some temporary fluxuation in the oxygen level of their atmosphere. (In which case the early Native Americans could be once and for all exonerated of having liquidated them, since their demise would have been dictated by a return to a baseline oxygen level!) If this were the case, one might also question what type of changes might be expected among our own kind as a result of such an increase and decrease of atmospheric oxygen. I found the doctor's ideas on the trade off between sexual reproduction and immortality a unique approach to the topic of aging. Some of this information--the studies of animal reproduction rates, predation, and age at death, for instance--was known to me. Dr. Lane's discussion brought it together in a much more complete way. Certainly the concept of sexual reproduction being one of life's mechanisms of perpetuating the fragile, complex organic molecules (DNA) in an oxidative environment was interesting. I had read Ridley's proposal that sexual reproduction evolved as a means of resisting bacterial infection, but Lane's suggests why it began as early as the DNA swapping behavior among early single eukaryotic cells. That the massive increase in biological diversity was an indirect product of the release of oxygen into the atmosphere, is truly an amazing thought. In the event as Lane makes claim in his subtitle, oxygen was truly "The Molecule that made the World."

A lot of information about a lot of different topics! *****

Nick Lane's book, Oxygen The Molecule that made the World, is a surprising volume. It mixes organic and inorganic chemistry with evolutionary studies, paleontology, research medicine, and even a little engineering to explain how the world got to be as it is. The first half of the book is dedicated to what our early atmosphere was like and how it changed as a result of biological activity. It also discusses how the evolving atmosphere, particularly the presence of oxygen, affected the complexity of early life and the sudden flourish of biological diversity after the Precambrian. The last half of the volume deals with the recent research on free radicals and their effect on health and on the phenomena of aging and of immortality.
Doctor Lane's own background is in biochemistry, and his research focus has been on oxygen free radicals and metabolic function in organ transplants. Not surprisingly he went into some detail about the free radical cascade that affects cellular metabolism and DNA integrity. I found this somewhat difficult to understand as I have only a very rudimentary grounding in organic chemistry. Still I have to admit that I know somewhat more about the process than I did before reading this book.
Probably because I know significantly more about geology and paleontology, I enjoyed more fully the author's synthesis and analysis of what we know of the geological and biological development of our atmosphere and our planet. Some of this material was familiar to me from other sources: Certainly that O2 can actually be a "poison" I know from managing patients with ARDS (adult respiratory distress syndrome) on mechanical ventilators with 100% O2; that the earth went through a series of green house earth/snowball earth phases early in its history I had learned from Ward and Brownlee's book Rare Earth; that life had begun almost as early as it was able and much earlier than had been previously believed, I was aware of from works by Gould, Schopf, and others; and that the mitochondria may once have been free-living, aerobic organisms that formed a symbiotic relationship with anaerobic organisms was known to me from my past exposure to microbiology in a nursing class.
New to me however, was the concept that gigantism may have been a means of limiting the negative effects of a periodic increase in oxygen in the environment, as Dr. Lane suggests in his chapter on The Bolsover Dragonfly. Although I had read an article that suggested that the immense sizes achieved by some of the dinosaur species might have been due to a higher percent of O2 at the time, I had also understood that it was because oxygen was a "good" thing, an opportunity of sorts. Lane points out that the negative effects of oxygen on tissues and DNA through the free radical cascade might have been ameliorated by an increased size. An animal--or one presumes also a plant--that increased its size might have been able to distribute negative effects over a greater body mass. One wonders if the rise of the mammalian mega fauna of the ice ages and their sudden almost catastrophic disappearance might not also have been due to some temporary fluxuation in the oxygen level of their atmosphere. (In which case the early Native Americans could be once and for all exonerated of having liquidated them, since their demise would have been dictated by a return to a baseline oxygen level!) If this were the case, one might also question what type of changes might be expected among our own kind as a result of such an increase and decrease of atmospheric oxygen.
I found the doctor's ideas on the trade off between sexual reproduction and immortality a unique approach to the topic of aging. Some of this information--the studies of animal reproduction rates, predation, and age at death, for instance--was known to me. Dr. Lane's discussion brought it together in a much more complete way.
Certainly the concept of sexual reproduction being one of life's mechanisms of perpetuating the fragile, complex organic molecules (DNA) in an oxidative environment was interesting. I had read Ridley's proposal that sexual reproduction evolved as a means of resisting bacterial infection, but Lane's suggests why it began as early as the DNA swapping behavior among early single eukaryotic cells. That the massive increase in biological diversity was an indirect product of the release of oxygen into the atmosphere, is truly an amazing thought. In the event as Lane makes claim in his subtitle, oxygen was truly "The Molecule that made the World."