White Light - Jack Lohmann

‘White Light is a conscience-driven tour de force.' Pico IyerThe most important element you never think about – uncover the secret life of phosphorusPhosphorus is the keystone of life. Without it, cells cannot divide and plants cannot photosynthesise. Highly reactive, it is seldom found in its elemental form – but, when pure white phosphorus is exposed to air, it emits a ghostly white light. In 1842, Darwin’s beloved botany professor, Reverend John Stevens Henslow, discovered the miraculous potential of phosphorus as a fertilizer. He hardly imagined that his countrymen would soon be grinding the bones of dead soldiers and mummified Egyptian cats to fertilise farms. Nor that his discovery would spawn a global mining industry, changing diets, lifestyle and the face of the planet forever. Journeying across the flat expanses of Henslow’s Suffolk to far-flung Nauru, an island stripped of its life force by this ravenous young industry, Lohmann sifts through the Earth’s geological layers and eras, exploring our strained relationship with a life-giving element. Bold, lyrical, genre-defying, White Light invites us to renew our broken relationship not just with the earth but with our own death – and the life it brings after us. ***'An effervescent – or I should say phosphorescent – debut from a talented young science writer.' Steve Brusatte, bestselling author of The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs'An
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