Physiology, Ophthalmology, Physics of Light - Optics, Biochemistry - General & Miscellaneous, Physics of Light - General & Miscellaneous, Dermatology

Life under the Sun

Name: Life under the Sun
Author: Peter A. Ensminger
ISBN: 9780300088045

by Peter A. Ensminger

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Overview

Which fungus is as sensitive to light as the human eye? What are the myths and facts about the ozone hole, tanning, skin cancer, and sunscreens? What is the effect of light on butterfly copulation? This entertaining collection of essays explores how various organisms-including archaebacteria, slime molds, fungi, plants, insects, and humans-sense and respond to sunlight.

The essays in Peter A. Ensminger's book cover vision, photosynthesis, and phototropism, as well as such unusual topics as the reason why light causes beer to develop a "skunky" odor. He introduces us to the kinds of eyes that have evolved in different animals, including those in a species of shrimp that is ostensibly eyeless; gives us a better appreciation of color vision; explains how plowing fields at night may be used to control weeds; and tells about variegate porphyria, a metabolic disease that makes people very sensitive to sunlight and may have afflicted King George III of England.

These engaging essays present a complicated yet fascinating subject in an accessible way. The book will be treasured by anyone interested in the wonders of biology.

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Editorials

Booklist

Ensminger's work combines hard science and entertaining prose. . . . Fine popular science.

Thomas W. Cronin

This book covers a body of recent scientific research and thinking about light in a way that is fun to read.

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Nobel Prize-winning biologist Max Delbr ck remarked in 1976 on what he called the "paradox of the short list," the surprisingly limited variety of ways sunlight can be harnessed in the natural world as compared with the boundless variety of life. In this intimate and occasionally captivating collection of 15 essays most appearing here for the first time Ensminger, a consultant and medical writer who has contributed to Science Digest and other popular science magazines, explains how sunlight governs the behavior of fungi and slugs, determines the sex lives of Japanese yellow swallowtail butterflies and may even have contributed to the madness of England's King George III. The author is at his best when his topic challenges our basic assumptions about seeing, as in his essay on the eyeless Rimicaris shrimp. Another intriguing piece is Ensminger's essay on color perception, in which he contrasts Claude Monet's brilliant palette with a crustacean's even more impressive eye. His chapters on Seasonal Affective Disorder and the myths and facts about the ozone hole, tanning, skin cancer and sunscreens are informative but do not inspire. Ensminger's research is timely, and his handling of the science is accessible; his writing, while clear, is markedly plain. One has the impression the author's own modesty prevents him from treating his readers to a more lyric, poet's-eye view of his topic, which his preface's homage to Michel de Montaigne, creator of the essay as a literary form, and his numerous references to literature and philosophy throughout the book, suggest he has in him. (Mar.) Forecast: This intermittently engaging collection will appeal most to readers well-versed in biology, but not to many general readers.. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.