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The Earth As A Cradle For Life
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Book Synopsis The Earth as a Cradle for Life by : Frank D. Stacey
Download or read book The Earth as a Cradle for Life written by Frank D. Stacey and published by World Scientific. This book was released on 2013 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book takes a long-term view of Earth's development as a habitable planet, incorporating physical, chemical and biological processes on the early Earth, through to human perturbations of the modern world and their implications for life in the future.
Book Synopsis The Earth as a Cradle for Life by : Frank D Stacey
Download or read book The Earth as a Cradle for Life written by Frank D Stacey and published by World Scientific. This book was released on 2013-06-21 with total page 308 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Earth as a Cradle for Life aims to fill the gap between readers who have a strong and informed scientific interest in the environment (but no access to the journal literature), and their desire for a basic understanding of the environment. It provides a comprehensive account, and requires no advanced mathematical skills. It will also satisfy a need for a textbook on fundamental science for students in tertiary environmental science courses that may otherwise neglect the underlying basis of their subject. The Earth as a Cradle takes a step back from common perceptions of the environment, and presents a new fundamental perspective. It draws attention to observations that have been neglected or discounted for reasons the authors found invalid, and which allow a more coherent account of the environment than is possible without them. Misunderstandings about the environment are common, even in the scientific community. They arise in part from the multi-disciplinary nature of the subject and the difficulty in keeping all relevant observations in mind and assessing their validity. These misunderstandings are often consequences of the band-wagon effect: when an idea is reinforced by repeated quotation and becomes difficult to contradict even when it is in obvious conflict with observations. This is especially so in a subject with strong media interest and conflicting commercial interests — and Cradle sweeps these considerations aside and presents a new environmental scenario. This book draws on several decades of research by the authors on fundamental Earth science, and presents probing insights on environmental questions that are not widely recognized — even in the professional community. For this reason it will become a landmark in the environmental science and Earth science literature. Contents:Physical and Astronomical Foundations:“The Age of the Earth as an Abode Fitted for Life” (Lord Kelvin, 1899)Rotation, Tides and the MoonThe Variable Sun and Other Astronomical EffectsThe Magnetic FieldThe Evolving Earth:Internal Heat and the Evolution of the EarthThe OceansPlanetary Atmospheres and the Appearance of Free OxygenThermal Balance, the Greenhouse Effect and Sea LevelEnvironmental Crises and Mass Extinctions of SpeciesStability of the EnvironmentInorganic Mineral Deposits as Products of an Evolving EnvironmentFossil Fuels, Buried Carbon and Photosynthetic OxygenHuman Influences:Effects of Fossil Fuel UseA Comparison of Human Energy Use with Natural DissipationsThe Cradle is RockingA Summary of Salient Conclusions Readership: General public, students, professionals, and researchers in the fields of environmental science, geology, geophysics, climatology, meteorology, oceanography, and environmental education. Keywords:Alternative Energy;Atmosphere;Carbon Dioxide;Earth Evolution;Fossil Fuels;Global Warming;Greenhouse Effect;Ice Ages;Impacts;Moon;Oceans;Oxygen;Solar Radiation;VolcanismKey Features:This is one of the very few books that present the fundamental aspects of the environment, the underlying reasons why it is the way it is and the processes that led to it. Available rivals generally present conventional and, in some cases, outdated ideas that lack the insight of this bookAttention is focused on some of the observations that throw new light on the environment, such as the temperature dependence of CO2 solubility in sea water and the rate at which natural processes remove it from the atmosphere, the inadequacy of photosynthesis to explain atmospheric oxygen, the hydrothermal origin of ocean salt, the capacity of the oceans as stores of heat, and fundamental limitations on possible ‘alternative’ energy sourcesThis book draws attention to two aspects of the environmental inertia of the oceans that have not previously been distinguished: the thermal effect of greenhouse warming — which has already been initiated and will become fully apparent on a hundred year time scale — and that the natural CO2 balance will be restored only in millions of yearsReviews: "The sense of seeking to convince the reader, however, lends the book a clear, decisive and ultimately highly readable tone. This book straddles the line between a textbook and a general-interest volume quite comfortably, making it suitable for anyone with a basic understanding of science that wants to place modern climate change in the context of the Earth's history." European Geosciences Union “This enjoyable book takes a long-term view of Earth's development as a habitable planet, this is a good initiation to a broad and important topic nevertheless, accessible to readers with a general science education.” chemistryworld Royal Society of Chemistry "This interesting book is a history of Earth's physical and chemical evolution, with implications for life at almost every stage. It is replete with original thinking and probing insight (and occasional important oversights). Throughout, one is not allowed to forget that Earth is a special place in the family of planets we call the Solar System." Henry Pollack Emeritus Professor of Geophysics University of Michigan “By itemizing the most important points at the end, the deliberate simplification serves for emphasis and as a useful starting point for discussion about the very gradual response by the Earth system to the rapid changes made by humans. Their abridged discussion and appraisal of planet Earth and of its resilience reveal some still unanswered questions about our environment. The book targets undergraduate students from all areas of study and anyone interested in the future of the planet.” Environmental Earth Sciences
Book Synopsis Cradle of Life by : J. William Schopf
Download or read book Cradle of Life written by J. William Schopf and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2021-10-12 with total page 404 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of the greatest mysteries in reconstructing the history of life on Earth has been the apparent absence of fossils dating back more than 550 million years. We have long known that fossils of sophisticated marine life-forms existed at the dawn of the Cambrian Period, but until recently scientists had found no traces of Precambrian fossils. The quest to find such traces began in earnest in the mid-1960s and culminated in one dramatic moment in 1993 when William Schopf identified fossilized microorganisms three and a half billion years old. This startling find opened up a vast period of time--some eighty-five percent of Earth's history--to new research and new ideas about life's beginnings. In this book, William Schopf, a pioneer of modern paleobiology, tells for the first time the exciting and fascinating story of the origins and earliest evolution of life and how that story has been unearthed. Gracefully blending his personal story of discovery with the basics needed to understand the astonishing science he describes, Schopf has produced an introduction to paleobiology for the interested reader as well as a primer for beginning students in the field. He considers such questions as how did primitive bacteria, pond scum, evolve into the complex life-forms found at the beginning of the Cambrian Period? How do scientists identify ancient microbes and what do these tiny creatures tell us about the environment of the early Earth? (And, in a related chapter, Schopf discusses his role in the controversy that swirls around recent claims of fossils in the famed meteorite from Mars.) Like all great teachers, Schopf teaches the non-specialist enough about his subject along the way that we can easily follow his descriptions of the geology, biology, and chemistry behind these discoveries. Anyone interested in the intriguing questions of the origins of life on Earth and how those origins have been discovered will find this story the best place to start.
Book Synopsis Out of the Cradle by : William K. Hartmann
Download or read book Out of the Cradle written by William K. Hartmann and published by Workman Publishing. This book was released on 1984-01-01 with total page 196 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Describes and provides illustrations of the kinds of space exploration that may be done in the near future, and discusses the economic and political implications for the people of the earth
Book Synopsis Cradle to Cradle by : William McDonough
Download or read book Cradle to Cradle written by William McDonough and published by North Point Press. This book was released on 2010-03-01 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A manifesto for a radically different philosophy and practice of manufacture and environmentalism "Reduce, reuse, recycle" urge environmentalists; in other words, do more with less in order to minimize damage. But as this provocative, visionary book argues, this approach perpetuates a one-way, "cradle to grave" manufacturing model that dates to the Industrial Revolution and casts off as much as 90 percent of the materials it uses as waste, much of it toxic. Why not challenge the notion that human industry must inevitably damage the natural world? In fact, why not take nature itself as our model? A tree produces thousands of blossoms in order to create another tree, yet we do not consider its abundance wasteful but safe, beautiful, and highly effective; hence, "waste equals food" is the first principle the book sets forth. Products might be designed so that, after their useful life, they provide nourishment for something new-either as "biological nutrients" that safely re-enter the environment or as "technical nutrients" that circulate within closed-loop industrial cycles, without being "downcycled" into low-grade uses (as most "recyclables" now are). Elaborating their principles from experience (re)designing everything from carpeting to corporate campuses, William McDonough and Michael Braungart make an exciting and viable case for change.
Download or read book Life written by Richard Fortey and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2011-03-23 with total page 566 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: By one of Britain's most gifted scientists: a magnificently daring and compulsively readable account of life on Earth (from the "big bang" to the advent of man), based entirely on the most original of all sources--the evidence of fossils. With excitement and driving intelligence, Richard Fortey guides us from the barren globe spinning in space, through the very earliest signs of life in the sulphurous hot springs and volcanic vents of the young planet, the appearance of cells, the slow creation of an atmosphere and the evolution of myriad forms of plants and animals that could then be sustained, including the magnificent era of the dinosaurs, and on to the last moment before the debut of Homo sapiens. Ranging across multiple scientific disciplines, explicating in wonderfully clear and refreshing prose their findings and arguments--about the origins of life, the causes of species extinctions and the first appearance of man--Fortey weaves this history out of the most delicate traceries left in rock, stone and earth. He also explains how, on each aspect of nature and life, scientists have reached the understanding we have today, who made the key discoveries, who their opponents were and why certain ideas won. Brimful of wit, fascinating personal experience and high scholarship, this book may well be our best introduction yet to the complex history of life on Earth. A Book-of-the-Month Club Main Selection With 32 pages of photographs
Book Synopsis The Cradle of Humanity by : Mark Maslin
Download or read book The Cradle of Humanity written by Mark Maslin and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2017 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: POPULAR SCIENCE. Humans are rather weak when compared with many other animals. We are not particular fast and have no natural weapons. Yet Homo sapiens currently number nearly 7.5 billion and are set to rise to nearly 10 billion by the middle of this century. We have influenced almost every part of the Earth system and as a consequence are changing the global environmental and evolutionary trajectory of the Earth. So how did we become the worlds apex predator and take over the planet? Fundamental to our success is our intelligence, not only individually but more importantly collectively. But why did evolution favour the brainy ape? Given the calorific cost of running our large brains, not to mention the difficulties posed for childbirth, this bizarre adaptation must have given our ancestors a considerable advantage.
Download or read book Cat's Cradle written by Kurt Vonnegut and published by Dial Press. This book was released on 2009-11-04 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “A free-wheeling vehicle . . . an unforgettable ride!”—The New York Times Cat’s Cradle is Kurt Vonnegut’s satirical commentary on modern man and his madness. An apocalyptic tale of this planet’s ultimate fate, it features a midget as the protagonist, a complete, original theology created by a calypso singer, and a vision of the future that is at once blackly fatalistic and hilariously funny. A book that left an indelible mark on an entire generation of readers, Cat’s Cradle is one of the twentieth century’s most important works—and Vonnegut at his very best. “[Vonnegut is] an unimitative and inimitable social satirist.”—Harper’s Magazine “Our finest black-humorist . . . We laugh in self-defense.”—Atlantic Monthly
Book Synopsis Paradise Found, the Cradle of the Human Race at the North Pole by : William Fairfield Warren
Download or read book Paradise Found, the Cradle of the Human Race at the North Pole written by William Fairfield Warren and published by . This book was released on 1983 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Book Synopsis Cosmic Cradle, Revised Edition by : Elizabeth M. Carman
Download or read book Cosmic Cradle, Revised Edition written by Elizabeth M. Carman and published by National Geographic Books. This book was released on 2013-04-16 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Where was your soul before you were born? If your soul is immortal, did it have a "life" prior to birth? Did you choose your life and parents? Is reincarnation real? Elizabeth and Neil Carman, the authors of Cosmic Cradle, address these questions through interviews with adults and children who report pre-birth experiences (PBEs) not based on regression, hypnosis, or drugs. Instead, interviewees recall their pre-birth existence completely sober and awake. In contrast to near-death experiences (NDEs), which have been well documented to show us what the soul experiences after death, PBEs throw light upon our lives before birth. People with NDEs sense that they "return home" when their spirits cross to the other side. What is the nature of this place we "return" to? PBEs suggest that we come from the same place we return to: we come from the Light and return to the Light. The same eternal "you" progresses through life before life, human life, and life after death. This new edition of Cosmic Cradle explores your soul's journey into your mother's womb--where your soul comes from, the origin and purpose of your life, and the process by which you entered an earthly body. In pre-birth communications, parents meet a soul seeking to cross over from the heavenly realm to human birth. Persons with pre-birth memories recall existence in a luminous world before birth, in which they preview the upcoming life with a Divine Planner, and recall how they journeyed to their mothers' wombs. Contents Foreword by Bernie Siegel, MD Introduction: Amnesia of Our Spiritual Origins Part One: Pre-Birth Memory 1. Children as Messengers 2. Memories of the Cosmic Cradle 3. “I Was in Your Tummy Twice” 4. Scanning Soul Plans: Contemporary Pre-Birth Memories 5. Welcome to Planet Earth 6. Shirley Temple and the Blue Bird 7. Our Soul as a Tiny Spaceship 8. I Saw All My Costumes Part Two: Pre-Birth Communications 9. Souls Waiting in the Wings for Birth 10. Soul as a Sphere of Light 11. Cosmic Conception 12. Miscarriages and Stillbirths in the Light of Pre-Birth Plans 13. Conversations with Unborn Children Part Three: Pre-Birth Wisdom down through History 14. Spirit-Children Down Under 15. Lodge of the Great Manitou 16. The Cosmic Designer 17. Travelers from the Light 18. Journey from Forgetting to Remembering
Book Synopsis The Social Conquest of Earth by : Edward O. Wilson
Download or read book The Social Conquest of Earth written by Edward O. Wilson and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2012-04-09 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: New York Times Bestseller and Notable Book of the Year A Kirkus Reviews Book of the Year (Nonfiction) Longlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence (Nonfiction) From the most celebrated heir to Darwin comes a groundbreaking book on evolution, the summa work of Edward O. Wilson's legendary career. Sparking vigorous debate in the sciences, The Social Conquest of Earth upends “the famous theory that evolution naturally encourages creatures to put family first” (Discover). Refashioning the story of human evolution, Wilson draws on his remarkable knowledge of biology and social behavior to demonstrate that group selection, not kin selection, is the premier driving force of human evolution. In a work that James D. Watson calls “a monumental exploration of the biological origins of the human condition,” Wilson explains how our innate drive to belong to a group is both a “great blessing and a terrible curse” (Smithsonian). Demonstrating that the sources of morality, religion, and the creative arts are fundamentally biological in nature, the renowned Harvard University biologist presents us with the clearest explanation ever produced as to the origin of the human condition and why it resulted in our domination of the Earth’s biosphere.
Book Synopsis Practical Handbook of Earth Science by : Jane H. Hodgkinson
Download or read book Practical Handbook of Earth Science written by Jane H. Hodgkinson and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2017-09-11 with total page 426 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This self-contained handbook provides a carefully researched, compact source of key earth science information and data, logically sorted by subject matter, and then cross-referenced. Appealing to both experts and non-experts alike, the book presents earth science and environmental science as closely intertwined. It includes tables of the global distributions of fossil fuels, contrasted by tables of the distribution of non-fossil energy sources. Concise explanations cover the subject matters of geology, geophysics, oceans, atmosphere with attention to environmental implications and resources.
Book Synopsis Terraforming Earth by : Jack Williamson
Download or read book Terraforming Earth written by Jack Williamson and published by Macmillan + ORM. This book was released on 2010-06-11 with total page 356 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Winner of the John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Science Fiction Novel When a giant meteor crashes into the earth and destroys all life, the small group of human survivors manage to leave the barren planet and establish a new home on the moon. From Tycho Base, men and woman are able to observe the devastated planet and wait for a time when return will become possible. Generations pass. Cloned children have had children of their own, and their eyes are raised toward the giant planet in the sky which long ago was the cradle of humanity. Finally, after millennia of waiting, the descendants of the original refugees travel back to a planet they've never known, to try and rebuild a civilization of which they've never been a part. The fate of the earth lies in the success of their return, but after so much time, the question is not whether they can rebuild an old destroyed home, but whether they can learn to inhabit an alien new world--Earth. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
Book Synopsis The Story of Earth & Life by : Terence McCarthy
Download or read book The Story of Earth & Life written by Terence McCarthy and published by Penguin Random House South Africa. This book was released on 2013-07-10 with total page 334 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Geologically speaking, southern Africa is without equal, a treasure house of valuable minerals with a geological history dating back some 3 600 million years. In addition, the evolution of plants and animals, especially mammals and dinosaurs, is well preserved in the region, which also probably has the best record of the origin of modern man. This book provides a fascinating insight into that remarkable history: how southern Africa, and to some extent the world, came to be the way it is - how its mineral deposits formed, its life evolved and its landscape was shaped. Along the way readers will be enthralled by accounts of the Big Bang that marked the beginning of time and matter, by drifting and colliding continents, folding and fracturing of rocks, meteors colliding with the Earth, the time when the Earth froze over, volcanic eruptions and the start of life. Anyone interested in the landscape and ecosystems in which we live will be intrigued to discover how our natural landmarks were formed, from the deserts of Namibia to the mountains of the Western Cape or Mpumalanga. Why is South Africa so rich in minerals? How did glacial deposits come to be found in the Karoo? Why did dinosaurs become extinct? How did mammals develop from reptiles? How closely related are we to the apes? The answers to many such questions are found in this lavishly illustrated volume. The authors also suggest how we can learn from the past in order to anticipate the future - for instance, to be able to predict earthquakes, deal with volcanic eruptions and meet the challenges of global climate change.
Book Synopsis The Future of Life by : Edward O. Wilson
Download or read book The Future of Life written by Edward O. Wilson and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2003-03-11 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Eloquent, practical and wise, this book by one of the world’s most important scientists—and two time Pulitzer Prize winner—should be read and studied by anyone concerned with the fate of the natural world. It "makes one thing clear ... we know what we do, and we have a choice" (The New York Times Book Review). E.O. Wilson assesses the precarious state of our environment, examining the mass extinctions occurring in our time and the natural treasures we are about to lose forever. Yet, rather than eschewing doomsday prophesies, he spells out a specific plan to save our world while there is still time. His vision is a hopeful one, as economically sound as it is environmentally necessary.
Download or read book The Cradle of Life written by Dave Stern and published by Pocket Star. This book was released on 2003 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The official novelization to the Paramount Pictures film set for release on July 25th. Within a long-lost temple Lara Croft discovers the key to the deadliest artifact of all time--the legendary Pandora's Box, which contains a lethal plague. Original.
Book Synopsis How I Spent My Last Night On Earth by : Todd Strasser
Download or read book How I Spent My Last Night On Earth written by Todd Strasser and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2012-11-20 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Something strange is happening in the parking lot of Time Zone High: The established cliques aren’t in their usual gathering places. Instead, everyone has joined in one large, frantically interacting mass. Why? Maybe it’s because the world may end tomorrow. Allegra Hanover is Time Zone High’s over-achieving valedictorian, so motorcycle-driving surfer bum Andros Bliss seems like the last person she would date. But when an asteroid is rumored to be hurtling toward Earth, the normal high school rules start to fade. Students and teachers are ditching class, and the lines between high school cliques are breaking down. Is the end of the world enough to make Allegra finally go for her secret crush?
