50 Earth Ideas
Published on 7. June 2012
Book
Hardback
208 pages
978-1-78087-161-5 (ISBN)
Description
This latest book in the bestselling '50 Ideas' series is a wonderfully accessible overview of the only place we know of in the universe that is capable of sustaining life. Expert popular science writer Martin Redfern covers all the natural processes of the Earth: climate, ocean currents, air currents, the elements, plate tectonics, fossils, the evolution of life, volcanology, sea levels and the ultimate fate of the Earth.
The 50 Ideas featured include: Geological formation; Rock layers; Formation of the atmosphere; Plate tectonics; Continental rifts; Volcanology; Simple life; Multi-cellular life; Snowball Earth; Gondwana and Pangea; Sexual selection; Complex life; The Cambrian revolution; The dinosaurs; Avalonia; The sauropod puzzle; End of the Mesozoic; The Cenozoic recovery; The Great Warming; The 'Great Flood'; The Holocene; Biodiversity and The fate of the Earth.
The 50 Ideas featured include: Geological formation; Rock layers; Formation of the atmosphere; Plate tectonics; Continental rifts; Volcanology; Simple life; Multi-cellular life; Snowball Earth; Gondwana and Pangea; Sexual selection; Complex life; The Cambrian revolution; The dinosaurs; Avalonia; The sauropod puzzle; End of the Mesozoic; The Cenozoic recovery; The Great Warming; The 'Great Flood'; The Holocene; Biodiversity and The fate of the Earth.
Reviews / Votes
'A useful overview of the processes that have shaped our planet. All in all, if you have limited time and only want to dip into a subject, this sort of condensed introduction to a complicated topic like the Earth will hopefully whet your appetite for a more in-depth knowledge' Katherine Joy, The Astrobiology Society of Britain.More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Product notice
Laminated cover
Dimensions
Height: 216 mm
Width: 182 mm
Thickness: 20 mm
Weight
524 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-78087-161-5 (9781780871615)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
06/2012
Quercus Publishing
€3.99
Available for download
Person
Martin Redfern is a senior producer in the BBC Radio Science Unit. He joined the BBC as a studio manager after graduating from University College, London, where he studied geology. He has spent time as a science producer in TV and as science news editor for BBC World Service. Most of his work now is on science feature programs for Radio 4. He has written extensively on science for magazines and newspapers.
Content
Introduction. ORIGINS: Birth of Earth; Our companion Moon; Hell on Earth; The dating game; A tale of three planets; Living planet. INSIDE THE EARTH: Journey to the centre of the Earth; Seeing inside the Earth; Magnetic core; The moving mantle; Superplumes; Crust and continent; Plate tectonics; Seafloor spreading; Subduction; Volcanoes; Earthquakes; Mountain building; Metamorphism; Black gold; Riches from the deep; Deep diamond secrets. SURFACE SYSTEMS: The rock cycle; Carving landscape; Gradualism and catastrophism; Sedimentation; Ocean circulation; Atmosphere circulation; Water cycle; Carbon cycle; Climate change; Ice ages; Ice caps; Snowball Earth. LIVING PLANET: Deep time; Stratigraphy; Life's origins; Evolution; Garden of Ediacara; Diversification; Dinosaurs; Extinction; Adaptation; Fossil molecules; Anthropocene. EARTH FUTURES: Future resources; Future climate; Future evolution; Future continents; The end of the Earth. Glossary. Index.