Oxygen: A Four Billion Year History (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780691270562)

The remarkable scientific story of how Earth became an oxygenated planet

The air we breathe is twenty-one percent oxygen, an amount higher than on any other known world. While we may take our air for granted, Earth was not always an oxygenated planet. How did it come to be this way? Donald Canfield covers this vast history, emphasizing its relationship to the evolution of life and the evolving chemistry of Earth. He guides readers through the various lines of scientific evidence, considers some of the wrong turns and dead ends along the way, and highlights the scientists and researchers who have made key discoveries in the field. Now with an incisive new preface by the author, Oxygen takes readers on an astonishing journey of discovery, telling the story of how our planet became oxygenated.

Author: Donald E. Canfield
ISBN-10: 0691270562
ISBN-13: 9780691270562
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Language: English
Published: 03/25/2025
Pages: 224
Format: Paperback