Dimensions
150 x 218 x 25mm
This book offers a fascinating introduction to the weirdest known forms of life- and the maverick scientists who search for them.
In recent years, scientists at the frontiers of biology have hypothesised the existence of life-forms that can only be called 'weird', such as organisms that live off of acid instead of water, microbes that thrive at temperatures and pressure levels so extreme that their cellular structures should break down, and organisms that reproduce without DNA.
The search for these strange life-forms spans the universe, from rock surfaces in the American south west, hydrothermal vents on the ocean floor and Martian permafrost, to the ammonia oceans of Jupiter's moons.
David Toomey brings us into the world of the researchers who have devoted their careers to 'weird life', and as they envision and discover ever stranger organisms here on Earth, they open up fascinating possibilities for the discovery of life in the rest of the universe.