Hypersea
Subtitle: life on land
By: Mark A.S. McMenamin and Dianna L.S. McMenamin.
Contributors: McMenamin, Dianna L. Schulte.
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Published: 1994
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 343
Subjects: Hypersea.; Symbiogenesis.
Description: A bold step forward from Gaia, Hypersea is a new theory of how life moved from the sea to the harsher environment of land, and how on land life diversified more than marine life ever has. Presented now for the first time in a book, the concept of Hypersea will revolutionize the way we perceive and study life on Earth.

In the sea nutrients pass with relative ease between organisms. But when life first invaded land, it needed to evolve far more complex relationships to sustain itself - instead of accepting nutrients passively, land life was compelled to cooperatively direct the flow of nutrients. As a result, life on land displays an extraordinary degree of connectedness - to the point where it can be seen as one inclusive terrestrial land form. It is this intimately connected land form the authors call Hypersea.

Hypersea theory presses us to reconsider ourselves as functional parts of a greater life form. Indeed, the propensity for organisms to dwell within other organisms gives life on land an intricate nested quality not found in marine life.

The ground-breaking new paradigm of Hypersea will stimulate a range of research that matches the diversity of land life itself, prompting new insights into evolutionary biology, conservation science and management, paleontology, and medical science - from more effective malarial treatments to new perspectives for thinking about AIDS.

Enhanced by nearly one hundred illustrations, many of them never before published, Hypersea: Life on Land is an adventure for everyone who is curious about nature - scientists included. Mark and Dianna McMenamin invite us to look through the Hypersea lens, which offers a view that will alter forever the way we experience the living world.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [257]-284) and index.