A World from Dust: How the Periodic Table Shaped Life

McFarland, professor of biochemistry at Seattle Pacific University, attempts to map the history of life via the periodic table, with mixed results. He repeatedly returns to the idea that the characteristics of chemical elements%E2%80%94such as their relative abundance or scarcity, and their capacity to bond to other elements%E2%80%94determine how life developed on our planet. Like all good works of science for the general public, McFarland's is full of fascinating examples, a dash of humor, and just plain cool facts. These are so prevalent, however, as to obscure his main theme. He mixes metaphors and confusingly moves between different analogies within the same paragraph, describing the movement of electrons between pigment molecules as "a string quartet keeping tempo" and then "a ship sailing out to sea." Chemistry isn't regarded for its intuitiveness, so when McFarland writes that "it is easy to imagine a microbe randomly stitching double-bonded carbons together and then surviving better because of the protective role those electrons can play," some readers may beg to differ. It is possible to glimpse some interesting concepts, but in his eagerness to express them, McFarland gets in his own way. Illus. (Apr.)