Hypersea: Life on Land [Paperback]

Mark A. S. McMenamin (Author), Dianna L. S. McMenamin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 15, 1996 | ISBN-10: 0231075316 | ISBN-13: 978-0231075312 | Edition: Reprint

This text describes the evidence for how life moved from sea to land, beginning more than 400 million years ago, employing the concept of "Hypersea" which is the idea that the barren land surfaces of the Earth could only have been colonized by multicellular organisms working in concert.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

The authors (The Emergence of Animals: The Cambrian Breakthrough, Columbia Univ. Pr., 1990) claim that an association exists among terrestrial organisms to the extent that their body fluids commingle and that this connectedness forms a sea through which other organisms (symbionts) and nutrients can move. Authoritative, up-to-date research results are recounted from the areas of paleontology, ecology, physiology, embryology, and evolution to corroborate this radical vision of life. A convincingly clear and upbeat style drives home "hypersea" as both a proposed scientific theory with testable hypotheses and a philosophical viewpoint providing a novel perspective on our living world. Continuing in the symbiogenetics vein of Lynn Margulis and Dorian Sagan's Microcosmos (LJ 1/3/87), this book will spur controversy and is essential reading for the science buff as well as the specialist. Highly recommended.
Frank Reiser, Nassau Community Coll., Garden City, N.Y.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

The whole is much greater than the sum of the parts. Symbiosis is not an amusing sideshow; it is the only show in town. Discovering this, we lose track of who is the host and who the parasite. All notions of biological hierarchy are turned upside down... Truth or engaging diversion, Hypersea is an illuminating way of looking at the biosphere.

(New Scientist )

This book is a significant advance in holistic biological thinking. It gives us a new view of the biosphere, in which symbiosis and cooperation are as important as predation and competition.

(Whole Earth Review )

Why is life on land such a spectacular success? Because, say Dianna and Mark McMenamin, 450 million years ago life created Hypersea, a vast new ocean of interconnected tissues.

(Discover )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 343 pages
• Publisher: Columbia University Press; Reprint edition (April 15, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0231075316
• ISBN-13: 978-0231075312
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 6.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,169,713 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Challenges of living on land, November 26, 2000

By 

Howard Schneider (Thornhill, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hypersea: Life on Land (Hardcover)

This book shows how complex lifeforms came onto the land from the sea. Hypersea does not include bacteria already living on the land, but is defined by the authors as the sum total of plant, animal, protoctistan and fungal terrestrial-based life. The challenges of living on land are discussed in detail - the need to retain water within, the difficulty extracting crucial nutrients, locomotion out of the water, etc. The importance of the fungi in extracting and delivering nutrients to plants, in return for carbohydrates produced by the plants, is considered, and a picture of the interconnectedness of terrestrial lifeforms emerges.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must for understanding how the world works, October 10, 2000

By 

David Keirsey (Carlsbad, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hypersea: Life on Land (Paperback)

Ok, for those not up on their biology or the Gaia hypothesis, it might be difficult to get through, but Hypersea is well written and fascinating for those interested in knowing how life has and will continue to evolve in more complex ways. An extremely important addition to the Gaia hypothesis. You will never see the world in the same way again.

The Hypersea and Gaia hypotheses are the only two clearly defined scientific theories that have been put forth to give us some answers to questions not asked by most of biology.