Description
The Third Domain is the untold story of how the discovery of a new form of life first ridiculed, then ignored for the past thirty years by mainstream scientists is revolutionizing science, industry, and even our search for extraterrestrial life.
Classification is a serious issue for science: if you don t know what you re looking at, how can you interpret what you see? Starting with Carolus Linnaeus in the 17th century, scientists have long struggled to order and categorize the many forms of life on Earth. But by the early 20th century the tree of life seemed to have stabilized, with two main domains of life at its roots: single-celled and multi-celled organisms. All creatures fit into one of these two groups.
Or so we thought. But in 1977, a lone scientist named Carl Woese determined that archaea biochemically and genetically unique organisms that live and thrive in some of the most inhospitable environments on Earth were a distinct form of life, unlike anything seen on Earth before. This shocking discovery was entirely incompatible with the long-standing classification of life as we know it. But as it turned out, archaea were not life as we know it, and the tree of life had to be uprooted once again.
Now, archaea are being hailed as one of the most important scientific revelations of the 20th century. The Third Domain tells the story of their strange potential and investigates their incredible history to provide a riveting account of an astonishing discovery.
Author Biography
Tim Friend has worked as a science and medical journalist since 1985. As a long-time journalist with USA Today he covered a broad range of science topics for the paper. His writing has earned him numerous awards and he was selected as a Science Writing Fellow at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute. He is the author of Animal Talk: Breaking the Codes of Animal Language published in 2004. Tim Friend lives in Alexandria, Virginia.
About the PDF: What am I Buying?
About Our PDFs
This book can be purchased as a computer file. The format of the file is called a "PDF". To open, view and print the file, you must have third party software (e.g. Adobe Reader or XPDF) installed on your computer.
Benefits of Buying a PDF
-
Instant. Buy it, download it immediately, and start reading.
-
Convenient. Download it to your laptop and read it whenever, wherever.
-
Searchable. Search for any word or phrase.
What are my options?
| If you want ...
| Then ...
|
| ... only a portion of the book | ... select a PDF Chapter |
| ... a computer file containing the entire book |
... buy a PDF |
| ... to read the book immediately and also own a copy for your bookshelf |
... buy the bundle |
| ... a copy for your bookshelf |
... buy the book |
Will my PDF be emailed to me?
No. After buying the PDF, we will email you instructions on how to download the file from our Web site. The PDF file will not be emailed to you.
See our Frequently Asked Questions for more information including: