| Oceanography > Issues > Archive > Volume 16 > Issue 1 |
2003, Oceanography 16(1):34–35, http://dx.doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2003.57
BOOK REVIEW | Life at the Limits: Organisms in Extreme Environments
Book Information | Reviewer | First Paragraph | Full Review | Citation
Book Information
Life at the Limits: Organisms in Extreme Environments
by David A. Wharton, Cambridge University Press, 320 pages, ISBN 0521782120
Reviewer
A. Aristides Yayanos | Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, La Jolla California, USA
First Paragraph
Wharton is a zoologist who began his career with studies of parasitic nematodes. The free-living stages of parasitic nematodes possess "extraordinary abilities" (p. ix) to tolerate freezing, desiccation and other treatments usually lethal for most organisms. These properties of parasitic nematodes and Wharton's field trips to Antarctica are the sources of his interests in extreme environments and, presumably, of the inspiration for his book of eight chapters. His discussions of the adaptations of organisms to desiccation and to low temperatures are, as we might expect, among the highlights of the book and give more detail than the discussions of adaptations to other extreme environments. In the Preface Wharton states "the book is written to be understandable by a non-expert...with little background in biology or science." I review this book with Wharton's goal in mind.
Full Review
Citation
Yayanos, A.A. 2003. Review of Life at the Limits: Organisms in Extreme Environments, by D.A. Wharton. Oceanography 16(1):34–35, http://dx.doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2003.57.