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Zusatztext From the cloth edition: Chemistry is a wonderful subject.The Natural Selection of the Chemical Elements is a wonderful book ... The result is a tour de force, a major textbook of general chemistry ... remininscent of Pauling's The Nature of the Chemical Bond.Nature Klappentext This beautifully written book is a study of the physical relationship between the inanimate environment and living organisms. It describes how the evolution of both has been interactive and interdependent; the authors show that this can be explained in terms of the properties of the chemicalelements and their compounds. The book discusses the physical and chemical balances between the animate and inanimate worlds! with kinetic and thermodynamic principles given to support this analysis. These principles are applied to both organic and inorganic chemical systems to provide a basis forunderstanding the evolution of life in terms of the interaction of both types of chemistry within ever more complex organizations. The book concludes with an examination of an intriguing problem: the long-term consequences of our manufacture and exploitation of chemicals. This intervention may bealtering the symbiotic relationship between life and the environment! an issue of great concern to ecologists and biologists as well as those who study chemistry. Zusammenfassung This beautifully written book is a study of the intimate relationship between the inanimate environment and living organisms. It describes how the evolution of both has been interactive and interdependent: the environment and life developed together, The authors show that this can be explained in terms of the properties of the chemical elements and their compounds. It discusses the physical and chemical balances between the animate and inanimate worlds, with kinetic and thermodynamic principles given to support this analysis. These principles are applied to both organic and inorganic chemical systems to provide a basis for understanding the evolution of life in terms of the interaction of both types of chemistry within ever more complex organisations. The book conludes with an examination of an intriguing problem for mankind: the long-term consequences of man's selection and manipulation of chemicals. This may have consequences for the long-term future of life from changes in the environment - not just only due to bulk but also to trace element alterations. Inhaltsverzeichnis 1: The development of man's ideas concerning nature 2: Order in chemical systems: Elements and their combinations 3: The balance between order and disorder 4: Phase equilibria 5: Equilibria in dilute solutions in water 6: Limited phases, fields and compartments 7: Evolution of kinetic control and of organisation 8: The evolution of inorganic chemicals on Earth 9: The evolution of organic compounds 10: Early biological chemistry: The uptake and incorporation of elements in anaerobic organisms 11: Early cellular organisation in anaerobes 12: The structure and chemistry of organisms after the advent of dioxygen 13: Organisation in advanced organisms 14: Man's selection of the chemical elements 15: Element cycles and their evolution 16: The evolving natural selection of the chemical elements and the senses Index ...
