Algae and Human Affairs

AlgaeandHumanAffairsprovidesacomprehensivesurveyofthemajorrolesofalgaeinpresentandfuturehumanlife.Thisdetailedsynthesisisdividedintofoursections.Thefirstreviewsthenaturalrolesofalgaeassourcesofoxygen,organiccarboncompounds,andasbasesoffood-chainsforhighertrophiclevels.Thesecondgroupofchaptersdealswiththecommercialandeconomicvalueofalgaetoindustry,energy,wastetreatmentandagriculture(i.e.algaeasanimportantsourceoffoodandfoodadditives,suchasthecarageenanusedindairyproducts).Thethirdsectiondiscussesthedetrimental,sometimesdisastrous,effectsofalgaeintheformofred-tideorganisms,weeds,producersoffreshwatertoxins,andmarinebiofouling.Thefinalsectionconsidersapplicationsandthepotentialofalgaetoindustry,ingeneral,and,inparticular,tospaceexplorationandgeneticengineering.