Chemical Evolution II: From the Origins of Life to Modern Society

The book provides an exciting interwoven mosaic about the evolutionary nature of chemistry. It follows chemical evolution from the simplest elements formed in the Big Bang to the molecular diversity and complexity present today. Review chapters demonstrate the multidisciplinary use of chemical principles and techniques and how they are central to unraveling mysteries of the universe. In addition to giving concise and well-referenced reviews, the eminent authors include recent unpublished work. Instructors will find the book useful as a text or resource for teaching how chemistry has evolved over time and shaped our world.

The first three sections review chemical evolution in astrophysics, in the Solar System and Earth, and in prebiotic chemistry. The fourth section describes how these themes can be incorporated into the curriculum. It seeks to expand and integrate new approaches to chemistry into majors and non-majors courses, and to inspire the creation of new courses at the college and high school levels.

The book promotes our modern understanding of evolution and applications of chemistry, and will be appreciated by chemists, instructors and students of chemistry, and all others with an interest in the evolution of the universe in which we live.

Lori Zaikowski is Chemistry Department Chair at Dowling College and Associate Professor of Chemistry and Natural Sciences. At Brookhaven National Laboratory she conducts research on electron transfer processes on a Department of Energy FaST Fellowship funded by NSF. As Adjunct Associate Professor in the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University, she teaches in the Environmental Science and Policy MPA Program.

Jon M. Friedrich is Assistant Professor of Chemistry at Fordham University and Research Associate in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at the American Museum of Natural History. His research interests include analytical chemistry and cosmochemistry.

S. Russell Seidel is an Assistant Professor of Chemistry in the Department of Chemistry and Physics at Dowling College. His research focuses on the coordination-driven self-assembly of discrete and infinite molecular architectures, as well as the synthesis of multi-zonal crystalline systems. This work has resulted in multiple publications and presentations in the field. He is also active in undergraduate education, heading up a first year seminar program at Dowling College.