The Evolution of Life

In this radical and reflective volume, psychotherapist and evolutionary psychologist C A Soper offers evolutionary analysis of a distinctly human behaviour: suicide. Soper’s ‘pain and brain’ model posits ancient emotion as the motivator for suicidal escape, but specific human cognitive adaptations as supplying the means. The framework also provides a basis for explaining why only a relatively small number of humans actually take their own lives.

In a book that is both groundbreaking and accessible, Daniel C. Dennett, whom Chet Raymo of The Boston Globe calls "one of the most provocative thinkers on the planet," focuses his unerringly logical mind on the theory of natural selection, showing how Darwin's great idea transforms and illuminates our traditional view of humanity's place in the universe. Dennett vividly describes the theory itself and then extends Darwin's vision with impeccable arguments to their often surprising conclusions, challenging the views of some of the most famous scientists of our day.

Microbial activities influence water-rock interaction processes and chemical transport between the major geochemical reservoirs and the formation/transformation of minerals and rocks, whereas geological processes and geochemical controls influence the microbial ecology in extreme environments. How biological activity influences geological processes and what role these processes played in the geological evolution of the Earth are fundamental questions.