CONTENTS

Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. Millions of years ago vi
3. CONTENTS vii
4. 1 Discovering the Conversation 1
5. 2 The Nature of the Conversation: Starting with C 16
6. 3 Expanding the Alphabet: N and P 31
7. 4 Completing Life’s Alphabet: S and Trace Elements 47
8. 5 Water and Oxygen 60
9. 6 Trimming the Tree of Life 69
10. 7 Living on a Dynamic Planet 88
11. 8 The Conversation Begins 99
12. 9 The Story of O, Part 1 112
13. 10 The Story of O, Part 2 125
14. 11 The Story of O, Part 3 138
15. 12 The Minerals of Life 151
16. 13 Plants Enter the Conversation 169
17. 14 Climate and Habitability 182
18. 15 Close Calls? 196
19. 16 The Conversation in the Twenty-First Century 209
20. 17 Other Conversations? Mars 225
21. 18 Other Conversations? Everywhere Else 241
22. Acknowledgments 257
23. References and Further Reading 261
24. Illustration Credits 285
25. Index 287