An Ocean of Air

On the average, I read two books each week. I’ve been doing that for over forty years. Fiction, non-fiction, it doesn’t matter. I just love to read and, like most human beings, I’m innately curious. I especially love a good mystery.
Every now and then I come across a book that insist I turn the page. It forces me to read ‘till my eyes close in the wee hours. An Ocean of Air is just such a book. I couldn’t put it down. Although it’s non-fiction, each chapter contains a mystery. For example: Who first discovered that the air we breath contained oxygen? How much does the air in Carnegie Hall weigh? Who unveiled the mystery of our trade winds? These are a few of the secrets revealed in Gabrielle Walker’s captivating book. Ironically, each person that is ultimately responsible for uncovering life’s mysteries is more unique than the subject matter. Ever hear of William Ferrel? Ms. Walker thinks he’s America’s greatest scientist and, after reading her work, I’d have to agree.
I guess the real reason I loved the book was the fact that it proved once again that life is dynamically balanced. Oxygen, which keeps us alive, is also the cause of our demise. Oxygen releases free radicals that eventually wear our bodies down and age us. Ms. Walker states this much better than I. …the lesson of oxygen shows that many things that are exhilarating have their own attendant dangers: making discoveries, making enemies, challenging the authorities, falling in love. Indeed, everything about our minds, our strong bodies, our different sexes, for the power of movement itself, we have to accept the inevitability of old age and death. The oxygen in each breath you take brings you everything that’s worth living for, but it will ultimately make you pay with your life,. Within its chemistry lies the very heart of the human condition.
And this passage: Carbon dioxide is the crucial source of all our food and without it we would freeze because it traps sunlight from returning to outer space. But it has a downside. Like oxygen, carbon dioxide has the potential to deliver too much of what otherwise would be a very good thing. The hero that protects us is also a villain that threatens us with a potentially deadly menace: global warming.
That’s what this blog is all about: the dynamic balance of life. Thanks Gabrielle for sharing your fantastic mind.