A review by fishface
Oxygen: The Molecule That Made the World by Nick Lane

funny informative slow-paced

3.0

Unsure how in date these ideas are given it was first published 2002, but a fascinating read nonetheless. I am particularly intrigued by the early chapters on how composition of certain rocks and minerals tells us indirectly a out the abundance of living organisms that decayed in the moment and didn't leave a fossil record, and those on the significance of oxidative stress on diseases correlated with aging such as Alzheimers. The author touches on topics varying from evolution to illness and is quite funny at times- definitely has a way with words to lift up the dryer passages. My only major complaint was that some sections were hard to understand coming at them with no prior knowledge: personally I knew next to nothing about vitamins and so didn't get much from the bits about them.