Kate Lester grows up in Florida under the tu telage of her domineering widowed mother, who gives her daug hters an unusual education and a bizarre view of the world. '
From the primordial soup to meteorite impact zones, the Manhattan Project to the latest research, this book is the first full history of the scientists who strive to explain the genesis of life. How did life begin? Why are we here? These are some of the most profound questions we can ask. For almost a century, a small band of eccentric scientists has struggled to answer these questions and explain one of the greatest mysteries of all: how and why life began on Earth. There are many different proposals, and each idea has attracted passionate believers who promote it with an almost religious fervor, as well as detractors who reject it with equal passion. But the quest to unravel life’s genesis is not just a story of big ideas. It is also a compelling human story, rich in personalities, conflicts, and surprising twists and turns. Along the way, the journey takes in some of the greatest discoveries in modern biology, from evolution and cells to DNA and life’s family tree. It is also a search whose end may finally be in sight. In The Genesis Quest, Michael Marshall shows how the quest to understand life’s beginning is also a journey to discover the true nature of life, and by extension our place in the universe.
Will the First Batch be just the Beginning... or the beginning of The End? Sadako Sōzō, the evil heiress of the powerful corporate empire Hidora Neo, inherits a secret buried in the Antarctic ice that will change the world. Four decades later, daikaiju have become a reality, thanks to the corrupt scientists of Hidora Neo using their secrets from the South Pole. Ivan Strand and his government-sanctioned rivals, Bionautics Inc., will rise to the challenge, striving to create their own giant monsters. An epic battle of the genetically modified organisms is imminent!Meanwhile, enigmatic doors opened at the bottom of the world will unleash an ancient evil older than time. Lives will be lost trying to drive it back to whatever Hell it came from.A savior in the form of an otherworldly force will awaken, ready to take them all on to save the Earth from an apocalypse.Rated Ex (Explicit) - Contains graphic violence, strong language, and other intense themes.
The interdisciplinary field of Astrobiology constitutes a joint arena where provocative discoveries are coalescing concerning, e.g. the prevalence of exoplanets, the diversity and hardiness of life, and its increasingly likely chances for its emergence. Biologists, astrophysicists, biochemists, geoscientists and space scientists share this exciting mission of revealing the origin and commonality of life in the Universe. The members of the different disciplines are used to their own terminology and technical language. In the interdisciplinary environment many terms either have redundant meanings or are completely unfamiliar to members of other disciplines. The Encyclopedia of Astrobiology serves as the key to a common understanding. Each new or experienced researcher and graduate student in adjacent fields of astrobiology will appreciate this reference work in the quest to understand the big picture. The carefully selected group of active researchers contributing to this work and the expert field editors intend for their contributions, from an internationally comprehensive perspective, to accelerate the interdisciplinary advance of astrobiology.
Uniting the conceptual foundations of the physical sciences and biology, this groundbreaking multidisciplinary book explores the origin of life as a planetary process. Combining geology, geochemistry, biochemistry, microbiology, evolution and statistical physics to create an inclusive picture of the living state, the authors develop the argument that the emergence of life was a necessary cascade of non-equilibrium phase transitions that opened new channels for chemical energy flow on Earth. This full colour and logically structured book introduces the main areas of significance and provides a well-ordered and accessible introduction to multiple literatures outside the confines of disciplinary specializations, as well as including an extensive bibliography to provide context and further reading. For researchers, professionals entering the field or specialists looking for a coherent overview, this text brings together diverse perspectives to form a unified picture of the origin of life and the ongoing organization of the biosphere.
In this New York Times bestseller, “you’ll see star births described in pen and ink, antimatter realized in collage, and a hand-painted black hole” (Discover Magazine). A science book like no other, The Where, the Why, and the How turns loose seventy-five of today’s hottest artists onto life’s vast questions, from how we got here to where we are going. Inside these pages some of the biggest (and smallest) mysteries of the natural world are explained in essays by real working scientists, which are then illustrated by artists given free rein to be as literal or as imaginative as they like. The result is a celebration of the wonder that inspires every new discovery. Featuring work by such contemporary luminaries as Lisa Congdon, Jen Corace, Neil Farber, Susie Ghahremani, Jeremyville, and many more, this is a work of scientific and artistic exploration to pique the interest of both the intellectually and imaginatively curious. “A work of art . . . Pop-science buffs will find the subject matter intriguing, and those who admire graphic novels or comic art will find a plethora of eye candy.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review) “The artists created whimsical illustrations, and the scientists responded with thoughtful essays.” —Smithsonian.com “Seventy-five contemporary artists such as Jacob Magraw, Jen Corace, and Patrick Kyle were commissioned to create the book’s original artwork, leading to a huge variety of visual styles throughout. Some illustrations are, like the front cover pictured above, akin to those of a beautified textbook, but the most are simply works of art; literal, metaphorical, or satiric imagery to accompany the text.” —The Verge
This classic of biochemistry offered the first detailed exposition of the theory that living tissue was preceded upon Earth by a long and gradual evolution of nitrogen and carbon compounds. "Easily the most scholarly authority on the question...it will be a landmark for discussion for a long time to come." — New York Times.
Clusters - regional concentrations of related firms and organisations - are a key element of economic growth and innovation. This book discusses the case histories of well-known clusters, including: the Hollywood motion picture cluster, Silicon Valley, and Boston and San Francisco biotech regions.
Marrying physics and biology, McFadden theorizes that evolution may not be random but directed, and that quantum mechanics endows living organisms with the ability to initiate specific actions, including new mutations. Illustrations.