Do you know silica the tetrahedra of silicon and oxygen constituting the crystals of New Agers
and the desiccant in a box of new shoes? It's no mere mundane mineral. As chemically reacting
silicate rocks silica set off the chain of events known as the origin of life. As
biomineralized opal it is the cell wall skeleton spicules and scales of organisms
ornamenting numerous lobes of the tree of life. Cryptocrystalline silica made into stone tools
helped drive the evolution of our hands and our capability for complex grammar music and
mathematics. As quartz crystals silica is impressively electric and ubiquitous in modern
technology (think sonar radios telephones ultrasound and cheap but precise watches). Silica
is inescapable when we take a drink or mow the lawn and it has already started to save the
Earth from the carbon dioxide we're spewing into the atmosphere. This book tells these
scientific tales and more to give dear modest silica its due.
