Life On The Edge [Hardcover]

Michael Gross (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0306457865 | ISBN-13: 978-0306457869 | Publication Date: March 21, 1998

This book describes the most hostile habitats of our environment and their most hardened inhabitants. The survival strategies which these so-called extremophiles have developed are analyzed in a way accessible to the lay reader but still in touch with the latest research news, including for instance, research on heat-shock proteins and genome sequencing. Michael Gross describes the significance of extremophiles and extreme conditions for biotechnology, medicine, and research into the origin and early evolution of life. Finally, the book takes us into space to explore the possibility of life on other planets including Mars, and the search for habitable planets in other solar systems.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

The discovery of "extremophilic" life that thrives in hot, cold, pressurized, desiccated, and acidic environments has necessitated a rethinking of elemental biology and revived expectations about extraterrestrial life existing in the solar system. Gross, a biochemist, explains the adaptiveness of life to stress in terms of the resilience of the cell. It can respond to the huge range of nature's insults, thanks to a first-aid kit that deploys various proteins in response to cold or heat. Gross examines those proteins with the aid of molecular diagrams and examples of organisms from such places as Antarctica and the Dead Sea before proceeding to the fascinating question of life's origins. Quite possibly, extremophilic microbes, named archaebacteria, are the most ancient life-forms. Their RNA protein has revealed some unusual properties that Gross describes as nontechnically as possible. Gross closes with thoughts on the prospect of finding extremophiles on Mars. The book constitutes an accessible introduction to an exciting outpost on the scientific frontier. Gilbert Taylor

Review

Readers with a science background will find this book a fascinating introduction to the subject, and they can follow up particular aspects using the reading lists and Internet links provided. Others may find the book challenging in parts, despite the glossary, but it is well worth the effort. -- New Scientist, John Parkes

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 250 pages
• Publisher: Basic Books (March 21, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0306457865
• ISBN-13: 978-0306457869
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,774,150 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars This book is very detailed in a molecular + chemical way, October 8, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Life On The Edge (Hardcover)

I had to read this book for a college biology class and it was not an easy read. It is very detailed in explaing the extreme enviorments in which these creatures live, beacause it gets down to the chemical and molecular make-up of everything. You really need a biology dictionary to go with it.

2 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars ArchaeaSo What?, April 20, 2003

By 

Worldreels (MANKATO, MN) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Life on the Edge: Amazing Creatures Thriving in Extreme Environments (Paperback)

Gross starts out explaining the chemosynthesis that supports deep sea bacteria, archaea, very well. His extreme life bacteria are interesting, shedding light on life prior to the earth's oxygen atmosphere, but then what? The book becomes repetitive. Yes, some life forms can endure extreme heat, pressure, cold and drought and he explains all of this perfectly. This all lends support to theories of possible bacterial life on other planets and to what was the first forms of life on earth. Beyond that it is only a treatise for graduate students seeking a higher degree. It is a lot of new words-not for the general reader.