Fungal Biology in the Origin and Emergence of Life Ausgezeichnet: Choice Outstanding Academic Title 2013

'In a wonderful introduction to this wide and exciting subject, and ensuring accessibility to non-specialist readers, key features of fungal biology are introduced, as is current thinking on the beginnings of the solar system, the formation of the Earth and its Moon, and the possible origins of the building blocks of life, including panspermia, the ET origin of life on earth. Central in this thought provoking book is a consideration of the definition of what is life, from the philosophical to the rigidly scientific. This definition is key to deciding on what was LUCA, the last universal common ancestor. Current views on this are well reviewed, critically analysed and dissected. A fascinating read, a myco-centric version of the origin of the eukaryotes, firmly dismissing the animal biased theories.' J. L. Faull, Birkbeck, University of London

'In a wonderful introduction to this wide and exciting subject, and ensuring accessibility to non-specialist readers, key features of fungal biology are introduced, as is current thinking on the beginnings of the solar system, the formation of the Earth and its Moon, and the possible origins of the building blocks of life, including panspermia, the ET origin of life on earth. Central in this thought provoking book is a consideration of the definition of what is life, from the philosophical to the rigidly scientific. This definition is key to deciding on what was LUCA, the last universal common ancestor. Current views on this are well reviewed, critically analysed and dissected. A fascinating read, a myco-centric version of the origin of the eukaryotes, firmly dismissing the animal biased theories.' J. L. Faull, Birkbeck, University of London 'Fungi and animals share a deep Precambrian root from which our unicellular ancestors diverged more than one billion years ago. This common beginning is evident when we look at similarities between fungus and animal at the level of genes and proteins, as well as the grander disjunction between both groups of eukaryotes and every other form of life on earth. Mycologist David Moore details the evolutionary history of the fungi in his new book and its relationship to the origins and subsequent development of life on land. This rich and compelling story provides a crucial mycological perspective on some of the biggest questions in modern biology.' Nicholas Money, Miami University, Ohio