The Natural Selection of the Chemical Elements: The Environment and Life's Chemistry

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. The book concludes by examining the long-term consequences of man's selection and manipulation of chemicals for his own purposes which may have consequences for the long-term future of life from changes in the environment - not only due to bulk but also to trace element alterations.

Table of Contents:
1: The development of man's ideas concerning nature 2: Order in chemical systems: Elements and their combinations 3: The balance between order and disorder 4: Phase equilibria 5: Equilibria in dilute solutions in water 6: Limited phases, fields and compartments 7: Evolution of kinetic control and of organisation 8: The evolution of inorganic chemicals on Earth 9: The evolution of organic compounds 10: Early biological chemistry: The uptake and incorporation of elements in anaerobic organisms 11: Early cellular organisation in anaerobes 12: The structure and chemistry of organisms after the advent of dioxygen 13: Organisation in advanced organisms 14: Man's selection of the chemical elements 15: Element cycles and their evolution 16: The evolving natural selection of the chemical elements and the senses Index

Review :
Chemistry is a wonderful subject.The Natural Selection of the Chemical Elements is a wonderful book ... The result is a tour de force, a major textbook of general chemistry ... remininscent of Pauling's The Nature of the Chemical Bond. Nature The importance of the book extends well beyond chemistry, as it promotes a view of nature as an interdependent whole, and a respectful attitude towards both living and inanimate forms. Angewandte Chemie `We owe much to the authors for having undertaken the enormous task of extracting relevant literature and assembling this volume of 646 pages, profusely illustrated. Students bogged down in tedious detail of chemistry may get a lift and inspiration when presented, from a higher vantage point, with the wide-ranging views of chemistry in the cosmos and in life on earth. There is much to think about and even to be concerned about in this volume.' Helmut Beinert, University of Wisconsin, Journal of Biological Inorganic Chemistry, Vol. 1, No. 6 '96 `The level of this book is particularly aimed at teachers of final year university students. But, written in the style of Scientific American or other populist scientific publications, it will appeal to a wider public. This grand project makes one think of that by D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson, On Growth and Form. This is not just a collection of expert knowledge, this is also a book of wisdom!' Pierre Laszlo, Bulletin de la Societe Clinique de France Bulletin No. 5