Earth Time
Exploring the Deep Past from Victorian England to the Grand Canyon
Published on 19. August 2005
358 pages
978-0-470-02233-7 (ISBN)
Description
The dramatic history of planet Earth and the rocky road tounderstanding the past
* A probing account of the history of the earth and anintroduction to the many eccentric characters that have attemptedto understand its origins.
* Full of fascinating anecdotes about 19th century explorers andnatural philosophers who first carved up Earth's history just asothers were carving up the globe.
* Unravels the fascinating history of rock strata and theimplications they have had on accepted theories on the Earth'slife.
* Considers the future of the earth, and what a repeat of some ofthe catastrophic events of the earth's past, such as majorearthquakes and asteroid collisions, could mean for lifetoday.
* A probing account of the history of the earth and anintroduction to the many eccentric characters that have attemptedto understand its origins.
* Full of fascinating anecdotes about 19th century explorers andnatural philosophers who first carved up Earth's history just asothers were carving up the globe.
* Unravels the fascinating history of rock strata and theimplications they have had on accepted theories on the Earth'slife.
* Considers the future of the earth, and what a repeat of some ofthe catastrophic events of the earth's past, such as majorearthquakes and asteroid collisions, could mean for lifetoday.
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Other editions
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Book
04/2005
1st Edition
Wiley
€24.00
Shipment within 10-20 days
Person
Douglas Palmer is an academic, lecturer and popular science writer. He is author or co-author of a wide range of books on prehistoric life and fossils, including the best selling Earth. He teaches for the Cambridge University Natural Science Tripos and the International Summer School. A former earth sciences lecturer at Trinity College, Dublin, he also spent two years as an exhibition coordinator at the National Museum of Wales.
Content
Acknowledgements.
Introduction.
PART I: CUTTING THROUGH EARTH TIME--MR. SMITH'S SECTIONFROM LONDON TO SNOWDON.
1. Recent Earth Time - The Holocene.
2. The Diluvium - The Flood and the Ice Ages.
3. Below the Surface - Into Tertiary Times.
4. Layer upon Layer - Deeper and Deeper into Earth Tine.
5. Oolites and Lias - The Jurassic before the Park.
6. Red Beds in the Midlands and Russia.
7. Fuelling the Industrial Revolution.
8. A Boundary dispute in the Welsh Hills.
9. The end of the Line - The Precambrian.
PART II: MAJOOR POWELL'S BOAT TRIP THROUGH THE GRAND CANYON.
10. A Glympse into the abyss of Earth Time.
11. Signs of life appear.
12. The cambrian arms race.
13. The Upper Paleozoic - American Style.
14. The Missing Mesozoic and the making of the Canyon.
15. Peopling the Americas.
16. Rock of ages - Dating rocks and fossils.
Earth Time - Conclusion.
References.
Index.
Introduction.
PART I: CUTTING THROUGH EARTH TIME--MR. SMITH'S SECTIONFROM LONDON TO SNOWDON.
1. Recent Earth Time - The Holocene.
2. The Diluvium - The Flood and the Ice Ages.
3. Below the Surface - Into Tertiary Times.
4. Layer upon Layer - Deeper and Deeper into Earth Tine.
5. Oolites and Lias - The Jurassic before the Park.
6. Red Beds in the Midlands and Russia.
7. Fuelling the Industrial Revolution.
8. A Boundary dispute in the Welsh Hills.
9. The end of the Line - The Precambrian.
PART II: MAJOOR POWELL'S BOAT TRIP THROUGH THE GRAND CANYON.
10. A Glympse into the abyss of Earth Time.
11. Signs of life appear.
12. The cambrian arms race.
13. The Upper Paleozoic - American Style.
14. The Missing Mesozoic and the making of the Canyon.
15. Peopling the Americas.
16. Rock of ages - Dating rocks and fossils.
Earth Time - Conclusion.
References.
Index.
