The Chemical Evolution of Phosphorus: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Astrobiology

Here is a fascinating reader-friendly 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 i...