Evolution in a Toxic World

With BPA in baby bottles, mercury in fish, and lead in computer monitors, the world has become a toxic place. But as Emily Monosson demonstrates in her groundbreaking new book, it has always been toxic. When oxygen first developed in Earth's atmosphere, it threatened the very existence of life: now we literally can't live without it. According to Monosson, examining how life adapted to such early threats can teach us a great deal about today's (and tomorrow's) most dangerous contaminants. While the study of evolution has advanced many other fields of science, from biology to medicine, toxicology has yet to embrace this critical approach. In Evolution in a Toxic World, Monosson seeks to change that.

Auteur

Emily Monosson is an environmental toxicologist, writer, and consultant. She is an adjunct professor at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Associate Editor of the Encyclopedia of Earth, and the editor of Motherhood the Elephant in the Laboratory: Women Scientists Speak Out.

Contenu

Preface

Acknowledgments

Chapter 1. An Introduction

PART 1: ELEMENT

Chapter 2. Shining a Light on Earth's Oldest Toxic Threat?

Chapter 3. When Life Gives You Oxygen, Respire

Chapter 4. Metal Planet

PART 2: PLANT AND ANIMAL

Chapter 5. It Takes Two (or More) for the Cancer Tango

Chapter 6. ChemicalWarfare

Chapter 7. Sensing Chemicals

Chapter 8. Coordinated Defense

PART 3: HUMAN

Chapter 9. Toxic Evolution

Chapter 10. Toxic Overload?

Appendix: Five Recent Additions to the Chemical Handbook of Life

Notes

Selected Bibliography Index