A Natural History of Time
Published on 1. June 2007
Book
Hardback
400 pages
978-0-226-71287-1 (ISBN)
Description
For most of history, people trusted mythology or religion to provide an answer to the pressing question of the earth's age, even though nature abounds with clues. In "A Natural History of Time", geophysicist Pascal Richet tells the fascinating story of how scientists and philosophers examined those clues and from them built a chronological scale that has made it possible to reconstruct the history of nature itself. The quest for time is a story of ingenuity and determination, and like a geologist, Pascal Richet carefully peels back the strata of that history, giving us a chance to marvel at each layer and truly appreciate how far our knowledge - and our planet - have come.
Reviews / Votes
"Richet is fascinated by every speculation in the entire history of Western thought that bears upon the question of the earth's antiquity. The wonderful thing is that he succeeds in changing what might have been dry recitation into an almost Dickensian world of characters in conflict and in love." - William Bryant Logan, Globe and Mail "The story of how the age of the earth was determined is a marvelous concatenation of red herrings and presuppositions from which the truth eventually emerges.... I cannot imagine a better attempt at such a broad sweep through science and history.... Richet's natural history is - dare I say it? - timely." - Richard A. Fortey, Times Literary Supplement "Geology and natural science buffs will discover a rich, baroquely embellished birthday cake to dig into and enjoy." - Publishers Weekly"More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Chicago
United States
Publishing group
The University of Chicago Press
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 23 mm
Width: 16 mm
Thickness: 3 mm
Weight
794 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-226-71287-1 (9780226712871)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Pascal Richet
Natural History of Time
E-Book
10/2009
1st Edition
University of Chicago Press
€20.89
Available for download
Persons
Pascal Richet is professor of geophysics at the Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris. He is the author of, among other books, The Physical Basis of Thermodynamics. John Venerella is the translator of A Naturalist's Guide to the Tropics, also published by the University of Chicago Press.