Download or read book Origins written by Lewis Dartnell and published by Basic Books. This book was released on 2019-05-14 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A New York Times-bestselling author explains how the physical world shaped the history of our species When we talk about human history, we often focus on great leaders, population forces, and decisive wars. But how has the earth itself determined our destiny? Our planet wobbles, driving changes in climate that forced the transition from nomadism to farming. Mountainous terrain led to the development of democracy in Greece. Atmospheric circulation patterns later on shaped the progression of global exploration, colonization, and trade. Even today, voting behavior in the south-east United States ultimately follows the underlying pattern of 75 million-year-old sediments from an ancient sea. Everywhere is the deep imprint of the planetary on the human. From the cultivation of the first crops to the founding of modern states, Origins reveals the breathtaking impact of the earth beneath our feet on the shape of our human civilizations.
Download or read book The Story of Earth written by Robert M. Hazen and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2013-07-30 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Hailed by The New York Times for writing “with wonderful clarity about science . . . that effortlessly teaches as it zips along,” nationally bestselling author Robert M. Hazen offers a radical new approach to Earth history in this intertwined tale of the planet’s living and nonliving spheres. With an astrobiologist’s imagination, a historian’s perspective, and a naturalist’s eye, Hazen calls upon twenty-first-century discoveries that have revolutionized geology and enabled scientists to envision Earth’s many iterations in vivid detail—from the mile-high lava tides of its infancy to the early organisms responsible for more than two-thirds of the mineral varieties beneath our feet. Lucid, controversial, and on the cutting edge of its field, The Story of Earth is popular science of the highest order. "A sweeping rip-roaring yarn of immense scope, from the birth of the elements in the stars to meditations on the future habitability of our world." -Science "A fascinating story." -Bill McKibben
Download or read book Origin and Evolution of Earth written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2008-09-04 with total page 151 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Questions about the origin and nature of Earth and the life on it have long preoccupied human thought and the scientific endeavor. Deciphering the planet's history and processes could improve the ability to predict catastrophes like earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, to manage Earth's resources, and to anticipate changes in climate and geologic processes. At the request of the U.S. Department of Energy, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, National Science Foundation, and U.S. Geological Survey, the National Research Council assembled a committee to propose and explore grand questions in geological and planetary science. This book captures, in a series of questions, the essential scientific challenges that constitute the frontier of Earth science at the start of the 21st century.
Download or read book Origin of the Earth and Moon written by Alfred E. Ringwood and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 302 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since the beginning of civilization, the origins of the Earth and Moon have been the subjects of continuing interest, speculation, and enquiry. These are also among the most challenging of all scientific problems. They are, perhaps to a unique degree, interdisciplinary, having attracted the attention of philosophers, astronomers, mathematicians, geologists, chemists, and physicists. A large and diverse literature has developed, far beyond the capacity of individuals to assimilate adequately. Consequently, most of those who attempt to present review-syntheses in the area tend to reflect the perspectives of their own particular disciplines. The present author's approach is that of a geochemist, strongly influenced by the basic phil osophy of Harold Urey. Whereas most astronomical phenomena are controlled by gravitational and magnetic fields, and by nuclear interactions, Urey (1952) emphasized that the formation of the solar system occurred in a pressure-temperature regime wherein the chemical properties of matter were at least as important as those of gravitational and magnetic fields. This was the principal theme of his 1952 book, "The Planets," which revolutionized our approach to this subject. In many subsequent papers, Urey strongly emphasized the importance of meteorites in providing critical evidence of chemical conditions in the primordial solar nebula, and of the chemical fractionation processes which occurred during formation of the terrestrial planets. This approach has been followed by most subsequent geochemists and cosmochemists.
Download or read book Origins of the Earth Moon and Life written by Akio Makishima and published by Elsevier. This book was released on 2017-01-27 with total page 268 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Origins of the Earth, Moon, and Life in the Solar System: An Interdisciplinary Approach presents state-of-the-art knowledge that is based on theories, experiments, observations, calculations, and analytical data from five astro-sciences, astronomy, astrobiology, astrogeology, astrophysics, and cosmochemistry. Beginning with the origin of elements, and moving on to cover the formation of the early Solar System, the giant impact model of the Earth and Moon, the oldest records of life, and the possibility of life on other planets in the Solar System, this interdisciplinary reference provides a complex understanding of the planets and the formation of life. Synthesizing concepts from all branches of astro-sciences into one, the book is a valuable reference for researchers in astrogeology, astrophysics, cosmochemistry, astrobiology, astronomy, and other space science fields, helping users better understand the intersection of these sciences. Includes extensive figures and tables to enhance key concepts Uses callout boxes throughout to provide context and deeper explanations Presents up-to-date information on the universe, stars, planets, moons, and life in the solar system Combines knowledge from the fields of astrogeology, astrophysics, cosmochemistry, astrobiology, and astronomy, helping readers understand the origins of the Earth, the moon, and life in our solar system
Download or read book Science and Creationism written by National Academy of Sciences (U.S.) and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 1999 with total page 48 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This edition of Science and Creationism summarizes key aspects of several of the most important lines of evidence supporting evolution. It describes some of the positions taken by advocates of creation science and presents an analysis of these claims. This document lays out for a broader audience the case against presenting religious concepts in science classes. The document covers the origin of the universe, Earth, and life; evidence supporting biological evolution; and human evolution. (Contains 31 references.) (CCM)
Download or read book Earth My First 4 54 Billion Years written by Stacy McAnulty and published by Henry Holt and Company (BYR). This book was released on 2017-10-24 with total page 40 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A lighthearted nonfiction picture book about the formation and history of the Earth--told from the perspective of the Earth itself! "Hi, I’m Earth! But you can call me Planet Awesome." Prepare to learn all about Earth from the point-of-view of Earth herself! In this funny yet informative book, filled to the brim with kid-friendly facts, readers will discover key moments in Earth’s life, from her childhood more than four billion years ago all the way up to present day. Beloved children's book author Stacy McAnulty helps Earth tell her story, and award-winning illustrator David Litchfield brings the words to life. The book includes back matter with even more interesting tidbits. This title has Common Core connections.
Download or read book Burning Planet written by Andrew C. Scott and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2018 with total page 266 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "As humans increasingly move into cities, as habitations encroach on flammable landscapes, and as climate change and invasive plants we have introduced alter those landscapes, we need more than ever an understanding of fire in the context of its role in the history of the planet. Is wildfire always a bad thing? to understand wildfire, Andrew Scott explains, we need to appreciate its history stretching back 400 million years. It was Scott who established the identity of fossil charcoal in rocks- our main clue to fires in the deep past. In this book he describes how we have in recent decades pieced together the story of fire through time. The record of fire on Earth tells us that fire has played a role in shaping the planet since vegetation spread on land. It also records evidence that wildfires increase at times of rapid climate change."--book jacket
Download or read book Planets and Moons written by and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Early Earth written by James Badro and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2015-10-05 with total page 193 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Early Earth: Accretion and Differentiation provides a multidisciplinary overview of the state of the art in understanding the formation and primordial evolution of the Earth. The fundamental structure of the Earth as we know it today was inherited from the initial conditions 4.56 billion years ago as a consequence of planetesimal accretion, large impacts among planetary objects, and planetary-scale differentiation. The evolution of the Earth from a molten ball of metal and magma to the tectonically active, dynamic, habitable planet that we know today is unique among the terrestrial planets, and understanding the earliest processes that led to Earth’s current state is the essence of this volume. Important results have emerged from a wide range of disciplines including cosmochemistry, geochemistry, experimental petrology, experimental and theoretical mineral physics and geodynamics. The topics in this volume include: Condensation of primitive objects in the solar nebula, planetary building blocks Early and late accretion and planetary dynamic modeling Primordial differentiation, core formation, Magma Ocean evolution and crystallization This volume will be a valuable resource for graduate students, academics, and researchers in the fields of geophysics, geochemistry, cosmochemistry, and planetary science.
Download or read book The Age of the Earth written by G. Brent Dalrymple and published by Stanford University Press. This book was released on 1991 with total page 506 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A synthesis of all that has been postulated and is known about the age of the Earth
Download or read book Atmospheric Evolution on Inhabited and Lifeless Worlds written by David C. Catling and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2017-04-13 with total page 595 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A comprehensive and authoritative text on the formation and evolution of planetary atmospheres, for graduate-level students and researchers.
Download or read book An Introduction to the Solar System written by David A. Rothery and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2018-01-11 with total page 441 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ongoing advances in Solar System exploration continue to reveal its splendour and diversity in remarkable detail. This undergraduate-level textbook presents fascinating descriptions and colour images of the bodies in the Solar System, the processes that occur upon and within them, and their origins and evolution. It highlights important concepts and techniques in boxed summaries, while questions and exercises are embedded at appropriate points throughout the text, with full solutions provided. Written and edited by a team of practising planetary scientists, this third edition has been updated to reflect our current knowledge. It is ideal for introductory courses on the subject, and is suitable for self-study. The text is supported by online resources, hosted at www.cambridge.org/solarsystem3, which include selected figures from the book, self-assessment questions and sample tutor assignments, with outlines of suggested answers.
Download or read book A Brief History of Earth written by Andrew H. Knoll and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2021-04-27 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Harvard’s acclaimed geologist “charts Earth’s history in accessible style” (AP) “A sublime chronicle of our planet." –Booklist, STARRED review How well do you know the ground beneath your feet? Odds are, where you’re standing was once cooking under a roiling sea of lava, crushed by a towering sheet of ice, rocked by a nearby meteor strike, or perhaps choked by poison gases, drowned beneath ocean, perched atop a mountain range, or roamed by fearsome monsters. Probably most or even all of the above. The story of our home planet and the organisms spread across its surface is far more spectacular than any Hollywood blockbuster, filled with enough plot twists to rival a bestselling thriller. But only recently have we begun to piece together the whole mystery into a coherent narrative. Drawing on his decades of field research and up-to-the-minute understanding of the latest science, renowned geologist Andrew H. Knoll delivers a rigorous yet accessible biography of Earth, charting our home planet's epic 4.6 billion-year story. Placing twenty first-century climate change in deep context, A Brief History of Earth is an indispensable look at where we’ve been and where we’re going. Features original illustrations depicting Earth history and nearly 50 figures (maps, tables, photographs, graphs).
Download or read book Building Planet Earth written by Peter John Cattermole and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2000-02-24 with total page 308 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Building Plant Earth presents a description of Earth as a planet, commencing with its physical and chemical evolution out of the primordial solar nebula. The condensation of elements and their redistribution are described, leading into a section dealing with mapping, geophysical and geochemical studies. This establishes the gross structure of the Earth, following which basic principles and processes of plate tectonics are then described, leading to the elucidation of the working of geological cycles. The main thrust of the remainder of the book is a description of the geological evolution of the Earth. Volcanism and seismicity, ice ages and climate, isotopic techniques and age dating, are all treated. The impact of mass extinctions, global-warming and ozone holes are included. The book is illustrated profusely and closes with a number of useful appendices.
Download or read book The Emerald Planet written by David Beerling and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2017-05-12 with total page 416 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Plants have profoundly moulded the Earth's climate and the evolutionary trajectory of life. Far from being 'silent witnesses to the passage of time', plants are dynamic components of our world, shaping the environment throughout history as much as that environment has shaped them. In The Emerald Planet, David Beerling puts plants centre stage, revealing the crucial role they have played in driving global changes in the environment, in recording hidden facets of Earth's history, and in helping us to predict its future. His account draws together evidence from fossil plants, from experiments with their living counterparts, and from computer models of the 'Earth System', to illuminate the history of our planet and its biodiversity. This new approach reveals how plummeting carbon dioxide levels removed a barrier to the evolution of the leaf; how plants played a starring role in pushing oxygen levels upwards, allowing spectacular giant insects to thrive in the Carboniferous; and it strengthens fascinating and contentious fossil evidence for an ancient hole in the ozone layer. Along the way, Beerling introduces a lively cast of pioneering scientists from Victorian times onwards whose discoveries provided the crucial background to these and the other puzzles. This understanding of our planet's past sheds a sobering light on our own climate-changing activities, and offers clues to what our climatic and ecological futures might look like. There could be no more important time to take a close look at plants, and to understand the history of the world through the stories they tell. Oxford Landmark Science books are 'must-read' classics of modern science writing which have crystallized big ideas, and shaped the way we think.
Download or read book Radioactivity A Very Short Introduction written by Claudio Tuniz and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2012-07-26 with total page 177 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Radioactivity - the breakdown of unstable atomic nuclei, releasing radiation - is a fundamental process in nature, and used to provide important applications in science, medicine, and energy production. But it remains misunderstood and feared. In this Very Short Introduction, Claudio Tuniz explains the nature and mechanisms of radioactivity.
