Originally published in German as "Exzentriker des Lebens", 1996, Spektrum Akademischer Verlag.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 175-187) and index.

Describes life on earth not by the rules but by the exceptions to them, looking at the most hostile habitats of the our environment and their most hardened inhabitants. Analyzes survival strategies of these single-cell creatures in a way accessible to lay readers but still in touch with the latest research in areas such as heat-shock proteins and genome sequencing. Describes the significance of research on such organisms for fields including biotechnology, medicine, and research into the origin and early evolution of life, and explores the possibility of life on other planets. Can life exist in the Antarctic ice, in the deep subsurface, in dilute sulfuric acid, in hot springs--even on Mars? What degree of high or low temperature, pressure, or salt concentration can living cells tolerate? In recent years, scientists have discovered many single-cell creatures that exist in--and are perfectly adapted to--extreme environments that were considered uninhabitable just one or two decades ago. The author explores how microorganisms adapt to their hostile environments and how they affect our current definition of the "normal" conditions for life. He describes the vast implications of these extremophiles and other amazing creatures from potential breakthroughs in medicine and biotechnology to the search for life elsewhere in the universe.

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