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  • Oxygen

  • The Molecule That Made the World
  • Written by: Nick Lane
  • Narrated by: Nigel Patterson
  • Length: 16 hrs and 35 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (9 ratings)

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Oxygen cover art

Oxygen

Written by: Nick Lane
Narrated by: Nigel Patterson
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Publisher's Summary

Three hundred million years ago, in Carboniferous times, dragonflies grew as big as seagulls, with wingspans of nearly a meter. Researchers claim they could have flown only if the air had contained more oxygen than today - probably as much as 35 percent. Giant spiders, tree ferns, marine rock formations, and fossil charcoals all tell the same story. High oxygen levels may also explain the global firestorm that contributed to the demise of the dinosaurs after the asteroid impact.

The strange and profound effects that oxygen has had on the evolution of life pose a riddle that this audiobook sets out to answer. Oxygen is a toxic gas. Divers breathing pure oxygen at depth suffer from convulsions and lung injury. Fruit flies raised at twice the normal atmospheric levels of oxygen live half as long as their siblings. Reactive forms of oxygen, known as free radicals, are thought to cause aging in people. Yet if atmospheric oxygen reached 35 percent in the Carboniferous, why did it promote exuberant growth instead of rapid aging and death?

Oxygen takes the listener on an enthralling journey, as gripping as a thriller, as it unravels the unexpected ways in which oxygen spurred the evolution of life and death.
©2002 Nick Lane (P)2020 Tantor
Biological Sciences Earth Sciences Popular Science
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Profile Image for Sandeep Kumar Agrawal

full of exciting concepts, but not as audible book

I think the book is full of new and exciting information and concepts, especially looking at evolution of life on earth based on the content of oxygen. However, despite being a Chemistry buff, I could not clearly decipher or visualize chemical equations, valencies and so on primarily because of its audible format. This is where lies the weakness of an audible book. Two issues with this book - 1. could not see the equations to figure out what was being said; and 2. challenges in going back to review and refresh previous information.

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