Life at the Extremes

"Frances Ashcroft explains all this and more with wit and clarity. She introduces a cast of scientific personalities, inventors and explorers who have charted the limits of human survival. She recounts the scientific detective stories involved. And she explores the adaptations that enable some organisms to live in boiling water, acid lakes, or the middle of rocks. Anyone who has ever wondered about what living things can endure will find this book a revelation."--BOOK JACKET.