The Natural Selection of the Chemical Elements
Published on 15. February 1996
Book
Hardback
672 pages
978-0-19-855843-9 (ISBN)
Description
The central thesis of The Natural Selection of the Chemical Elements is that the inanimate environment and living organisms are intimately connected, and that the evolution of both has been interactive and interdependent: the environment and life developed together. The authors show that this can be explained in terms of the properties of the chemical elements and their compounds, especially as compounds have developed with time. The first part of the book discusses the physical and chemical balance between ordered and disordered systems and then analyses organisation in both the animate and inanimate worlds. Appropriate thermodynamic and kinetic principles are given to support this analysis. The application of these principles to the development of both inorganic (geographical) and organic chemical systems is then described, providing a basis for understanding the evolution of life in terms of the interaction of both types of chemistry within ever more complex organisations. This book is intended for all scientists active in chemistry, biology, and the earth and environmental sciences, particularly natural scientists interested in the problems of life and the environment
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Oxford University Press
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
numerous line figures, chemical structures, and tables, bibliography
ISBN-13
978-0-19-855843-9 (9780198558439)
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Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Content
The development of man's ideas concerning nature; Order in chemical systems: Elements and their combinations; The balance between order and disorder; Phase equilibria; Equilibria in dilute solutions in water; Limited phases, fields and compartments; Evolution of kinetic control and of organization; The evolution of inorganic chemicals on Earth; The evolution of organic compounds; Early biological chemistry: The uptake and incorporation of elements in anaerobic organisms; Early cellular organization in anaerobes; The structure and chemistry of organisms after the advent of dioxygen; Organization in advanced organisms; Man's selection of the chemical elements; Element cycles and their evolution; The evolving natural selection of the chemical elements and the senses.