Oxygen helps us understand the biology of our evolution by taking a close look at the molecule that makes and breaks all life, as well as studying how it's shaped the rise of animals, plants and humans, and how it even might be the key to aging.

Did you know that the air we breathe is literally killing us, one breath at a time?

Before you hold your breath - don't worry! It's fascinating to learn about the both life-supporting and deadly capacities of what might be the most important molecule in our world: oxygen.

Without oxygen, we'd be nowhere. It just turns out that there's a lot more to this element than we probably learned at school.

Talk about an out-of-the-box book.

We don't often think of oxygen as such a key player in the evolution of the world, but of course it makes sense. No oxygen in the air? No survival for humans or animals.

Nick Lane is a British biochemist and researcher in the field of evolutionary biology, who works at the University College London. He's published 4 books on this topic, and this is one of them.