Life at the Limits by David Wharton, Cambridge, £18.95, ISBN
0521782120
WHAT is an extreme environment? In the deepest parts of the ocean, pressure
can reach 1100 atmospheres, enough to crush not just us, but all the fish
familiar to us as well. These benthic waters are also utterly dark, and
temperatures a chilly 2 and 3 °C. Surely this qualifies as an extreme
environment? Well, perhaps not. David Wharton points out that the deep sea
represents 75 per cent of the biosphere. This sunless, frigid place is therefore
“normal” by many definitions and far from empty of life. Extreme depends on…
