Life On The Edge: Amazing Creatures Thriving in Extreme Environments

by Michael Gross

This book describes the most hostile habitats of our environment and their most hardened inhabitants. The survival strategies which these so-called extremophiles have developed are analyzed in a way accessible to the lay reader but still in touch with the latest research news, including for instance, research on heat-shock proteins and genome sequencing. Michael Gross describes the significance of extremophiles and extreme conditions for biotechnology, medicine, and research into the origin and early evolution of life. Finally, the book takes us into space to explore the possibility of life on other planets including Mars, and the search for habitable planets in other solar systems.

Genres: Science, Biology

250 pages, Hardcover

First published March 21, 1998

Reviews

[Lithezebra]

Life on the Edge is an overview of archaea, with detailed information about how these fascinating organisms are able to live in extremes of heat, cold, pressure, salinity, and pH. This, by necessity, involves discussing chemistry and physiology. I loved reading a non-textbook science book that didn't dumb the subject down, or omit information necessary for understanding the topic.