Slime: How Algae Created Us, Plague Us, and Just Might Save Us

Synopsis

“No organisms are more important to life as we know it than algae. In Slime, Ruth Kassinger gives this under-appreciated group its due.” —Elizabeth Kolbert

“algae” and most people think of pond scum. What they don’t know is that without algae, none of us would exist. There are as many algae on Earth as stars in the universe, and they have been essential to life on our planet for eons. Algae created the Earth we know today, with its oxygen-rich atmosphere, abundant oceans, and coral reefs.

Crude oil is made of dead algae, and algae are the ancestors of all plants. Today, seaweed production is a multi-billion dollar industry, with algae hard at work to make your sushi, chocolate milk, beer, paint, toothpaste, shampoo and so much more.

In Slime we’ll meet the algae innovators working toward a sustainable future: from seaweed farmers in South Korea, to scientists using it to clean the dead zones in our waterways, to the entrepreneurs fighting to bring algae fuel and plastics to market.

With a multitude of lively, surprising science and history, Ruth Kassinger takes readers on an around-the-world, behind-the-scenes, and into-the-kitchen tour. Whether you thought algae was just the gunk in your fish tank or you eat seaweed with your oatmeal, Slime will delight and amaze with its stories of the good, the bad, and the up-and-coming.

Copyright:

2016

Book Details

Book Quality:

Publisher Quality

ISBN-13:

9780544433151

Related ISBNs:

9780544432932

Publisher:

HMH Books for Young Readers

Date of Addition:

05/20/20

Copyrighted By:

Ruth Kassinger

Adult content:

No

Language:

English

Has Image Descriptions:

No

Categories:

Nonfiction, Science, Cooking, Food and Wine

Submitted By:

Bookshare Staff

Usage Restrictions:

This is a copyrighted book.

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