Chemistry

The Chemical Evolution of Phosphorus
An Interdisciplinary Approach to Astrobiology

Enrique Macia-Barber

The Chemical Evolution of Phosphorus

Published. Available now.
Pub Date: December 2019
Hardback Price: see ordering info
Hard ISBN: 9781771888042
Paperback ISBN: 978-1-77463-482-0
E-Book ISBN: 9780429265136
Pages: 402pp w/index
Binding Type: hardbound / ebook / paperback
Notes: 22 color and 86 b/w illustrations


Reviews
Choice Outstanding Academic Title, 2021

“Barber . . . employs the element phosphorus as a central topic worthy of study in itself, but also as a bridging device through which to trace some of the major tenets of chemical evolution. . . . Intended to accommodate beginning students and experts alike, including several introductory chapters that provide basic orientation to cosmology and physical chemistry. The text continues with more advanced discussions of nucleosynthesis as well as stellar and planetary distribution. . . . Intended for use as a textbook, the book includes keywords, chapter summaries, and exercises, and the graphics are both illustrative and well referenced. . . . Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readers.”

—CHOICE, review by P. K. Strother, Boston College

“This book beautifully traces the stellar origin of the element phosphorous, its chemical properties, and the observations of phosphorous-based molecules and minerals in the interstellar medium and in the solar system. [The author] then connects the astronomical studies with the role of phosphorous played in living organisms, presenting the biochemistry of biomolecules that incorporate phosphorous, and the roles that these molecules play in the origin of life on Earth. This book presents a comprehensive summary of our current understanding of the astrochemical and astrobiological significance of phosphorous. It is invaluable for researchers and students who are interested in the question of origin of life and the search for extraterrestrial life. ”
—From the Foreword by Sun Kwok, President, International Astronomical Union Commission on Astrobiology (2015–2018), University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada

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Now Available in Paperback


The Chemical Evolution of Phosphorus: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Astrobiology is an exploration of “the phosphorus enigma.” The volume attempts to answer the questions How did phosphorus atoms, which are produced inside the inner cores of a handful of huge stars, become concentrated in relatively high proportions in the organisms composing Earth’s biosphere? And how did these phosphate derivatives manage to be included in such a great variety of organic molecules playing essential biochemical roles in all known life forms?

Due to the interdisciplinary nature of the topic, the volume is arranged in three main sections. The first section introduces the fundamental concepts and notions of physics, chemistry, and biology necessary for the proper understanding of the topics discussed within an astronomical framework. It covers the basic features of astrophysics, cosmochemistry, and astrobiology disciplines and provides a brief summary of the main physical and chemical properties of phosphorus compounds of interest.

The second section focuses on the role of phosphorus and its compounds within the context of chemical evolution in galaxies. Following an interdisciplinary approach, the author discusses the position of P among the main biogenic elements by considering its relevance in most essential biochemical functions as well as its peculiar chemistry under different physicochemical conditions. The phosphorus distribution in different cosmic sites, such as terrestrial planets, interplanetary dust particles, cometary dust, planetary atmospheres, and the interstellar medium (ISM) is reviewed, showing that this element is both scarce and ubiquitous in the universe. Also addressed are some possible routes allowing for the incorporation of phosphorus compounds of prebiotic interest during the earlier stages of solar system formation.

The third section features an overall perspective on the role of phosphorus and its compounds in current areas of research of solid state physics, materials engineering, nanotechnology or medicine, as well as some perspectives for future work in order to properly solve the enigma of phosphorus in chemical evolution.

The book can be used as reader-friendly resource for undergraduate, graduate, or postgraduate students, senior scientists, and researchers coming from diverse related fields of physics, chemistry, and materials science, as well as senior scientists interested in primary sources of the main biogenic elements.

CONTENTS:
Preface

1. The Phosphorus Enigma: An Overview

2. The Unfolding Universe

3. Cosmic Distribution of the Main Biogenic Elements

4. Physical and Chemical Properties of Phosphorus Compounds

5. The Nucleosynthesis of Phosphorus

6. From Stellar Atmospheres to the Interstellar Medium and Back Again

7. Phosphorus Compounds in Planetary Systems

8. Prebiotic Chemical Evolution and the Phosphate Problem

9. Phosphorus Technology: Man Made Compounds

10. Outlook and Perspectives


Index


About the Authors / Editors:
Enrique Macia-Barber
Professor of Condensed Matter Physics, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain

Enrique Maciá-Barber is currently a professor of condensed matter physics at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain. His research interests include the thermoelectric properties of quasicrystals and DNA biophysics. He is author of several monographs and books, including Aperiodic Structures in Condensed Matter: Fundamentals and Applications (CRC Press) and Thermoelectric Materials: Fundamentals and Applications (Pan Stanford). He received his MSc degree in astrophysics in 1987.




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