Weird Life: The Search for Life That Is Very, Very Different from Our Own - Hardcover

Toomey, David

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0393071588 ISBN 13: 9780393071580

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company, 2013

Synopsis

Science that sounds like science fiction.

In recent years, scientists have hypothesized life-forms that can only be called "weird": organisms that live off acid rather than water, microbes that thrive at temperatures and pressure levels so extreme that their cellular structures should break down, perhaps even organisms that reproduce without DNA. Some of these strange life-forms, unrelated to all life we know, might be nearby: on rock surfaces in the American southwest, hydrothermal vents on the ocean floor, or even in our own bodies. Some, stranger still, might live in Martian permafrost, swim in the dark oceans of Jupiter's moons, or survive in the exotic ices on comets.  Others--the strangest of all--might inhabit the crusts of neutron stars, interstellar nebulae, or even other spatial dimensions. 

In Weird Life, David Toomey takes us on a breathtaking tour of a universe of hypothetical life, a universe of life as we do not know it. 10 illustrations

About this title

About the Author

David Toomey is an associate professor of English and director of the Professional Writing and Technical Communication Program at the University of Massachusetts−Amherst. His other books include The New Time Travelers: a journey to the frontiers of physics (Norton 2007) and Stormchasers: the Hurricane Hunters and their flight into Hurricane Janet (Norton 2002).  He lives in Amherst.

From the Back Cover

PRAISE FOR DAVID TOOMEY

• THE NEW TIME TRAVELERS

"An honest, intelligent and largely accessible work of impressive scholarship on a difficult subject." -- Lawrence M. Krauss, Nature

"Riveting ... Toomey is imaginative and compelling." -- Chris Kridler, Houston Chronicle

"Superbly written." -- Steven Poole, Guardian

"Toomey does a very good job at blending cutting-edge science with entertaining and insightful stories about scientists as human beings." -- Sean Carroll, Times Higher Education

"Toomey ... is able to bring his topic fully to life ... fine writing." -- Publishers Weekly

• STORMCHASERS

"Invigorating ... dramatic and scientific. Toomey brings a novelist's eye and an investigative journalist's panache to his re-creation of ... the history and science." -- Dan Santow, Chicago Tribune

Reviews

In 1977, when marine geologists discovered an abundance of never-before-seen life-forms thriving near superhot hydrothermal vents on the Pacific Ocean floor, the limits of life suddenly expanded beyond what biologists previously thought possible. Since then, scientists have discovered algae living in Antarctic brine and fungi feasting on inorganic chemicals in rock. Dubbed extremophiles for their proficiency in adapting to extreme conditions, these organisms all nonetheless incorporate DNA and have a common terrestrial ancestor. But what if there are forms of life on other planets composed of utterly different molecules? What would such creatures, large or small, look like? In 2002 a National Research Council committee pondered these exact questions, and their answers inspired this mind-bending exploration of weird life, by veteran technical writer Toomey. After cataloging the varieties of improbable life here on earth, Toomey takes a tour of the committee’s report and speculative fiction, citing such examples as silicon-based ETs to sentient oceans. Biologists and sf fans alike will find much here to challenge their preconceived notions of life in the universe. --Carl Hays

Edition details

• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Publication date: 2013
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0393071588
• ISBN 13: 9780393071580
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 288