Oxygen: A Four Billion Year History

Posted on 12 July 2019 by Donald E. Canfield

The air we breathe is twenty one percent oxygen, an amount higher than on any other known world While we may take our air for granted, Earth was not always an oxygenated planet How did it become this way Oxygen is the most current account of the history of atmospheric oxygen on Earth Donald Canfield one of the world s leading authorities on geochemistry, earth history, and the early oceans covers this vast history, emphasizing its relationship to the evolution of life and the evolving chemistry of the Earth With an accessible and colorful first person narrative, he draws from a variety of fields, including geology, paleontology, geochemistry, biochemistry, animal physiology, and microbiology, to explain why our oxygenated Earth became the ideal place for life.Describing which processes, both biological and geological, act to control oxygen levels in the atmosphere, Canfield traces the records of oxygen concentrations through time Readers learn about the great oxidation event, the tipping point 2.3 billion years ago when the oxygen content of the Earth increased dramatically, and Canfield examines how oxygenation created a favorable environment for the evolution of large animals He guides readers through the various lines of scientific evidence, considers some of the wrong turns and dead ends along the way, and highlights the scientists and researchers who have made key discoveries in the field.Showing how Earth s atmosphere developed over time, Oxygen takes readers on a remarkable journey through the history of the oxygenation of our planet. Best Download Kindle ePUB Oxygen: A Four Billion Year History Author Donald E. Canfield – kino-fada.fr An excellent example of what a popular science book should be Some criticised it for being too technical I disagree With so much material on Internet, one can easily clarify some of thedifficult parts, even when admittedly some of the passages could be explained a bit better The author is a prominent expert in his field and that s perhaps why I prefer this to an approach, often used by journalists or the science popularisers, to ensure maximal understanding whilst oversimplifying the An excellent example of what a popular science book should be Some criticised it for being too technical I disagree With so much material on Internet, one can easily clarify some of thedifficult parts, even when admittedly some of the passages could be explained a bit better The author is a...This book describes current research on the history of oxygen in earth s atmosphere It was particularly good at conveying the collegiality of science and the way that data and conflicting hypotheses are built up, tested and rethought While written for the general public, reading it requires close attention I found it sobering that the tremendous quantities of cyanobacteria existing in the oceans were only discovered in 1...I often complain about popular science books written by journalists, and how they often elide over many of the technical details, which is where the mystery and the beauty lie This book is kind of the opposite a working scientist who writes moderately well, but gets a little too lost in the details, Which in the end it makes me wonder who the intended audience is The subject, how did the Earth s atmosphere get to have so much free oxygen, is massive and inspiring, and there seem to be few I often co...When I first heard about Oxygen I immediately wanted to read it This is an amazingly important topic for understanding the history of life on Earth and it was written by a true renowned specialist, Prof Donald Canfield Although the positives hugely outweigh the negatives, such as the author s clear and precise use of language and the careful selection and exposure of data, there were some distracting features such as the oversimplification of relatively simple geological and biological When I first heard about Oxygen I immediately wanted to read it This is an amazingly im...InOxygen A Four Billion Year History, ecology professor Donald E Canfield recounts the history of Earth s atmosphere, focusing on one of the most important elements of life oxygen The author describes scientific theories around the oxygenation of our planet and their evolution precisely and in a very detailed manner This book is a bittechnical than your typical popular science book, which ...Although this is a popular science book written for a general audience, there are a few technical spots Canfield does a superb job describing the great oxygen event and the subsequent reducing atmosphere that caused the great rusting or ox...This might be better if you have athorough chemistry background The topic was interesting, but the book was weighed down by chemical diagrams and reaction equations.Good book, by a student of Bob Garrels See notes.Sadly, it s due I ll have to get it back to finish it Too many books Set back to want to read for now..This is a quite readable, and interesting, book by one of the world s leading authorities on geochemistry, earth history, and the early oceans It covers the evidence gathered over the last several decades and before concerning the evolution of Oxygen in Earth s atmosphere Other popular science accounts on this and rela...Negative and positive feedback mechanismsNegative and positive feedback mechanisms

English
12 July 2019

Donald E. Canfield