The dramatic history of planet Earth and the rocky road to
understanding the past
* A probing account of the history of the earth and an
introduction to the many eccentric characters that have attempted
to understand its origins.
* Full of fascinating anecdotes about 19th century explorers and
natural philosophers who first carved up Earth’s history just as
others were carving up the globe.
* Unravels the fascinating history of rock strata and the
implications they have had on accepted theories on the Earth’s
life.
* Considers the future of the earth, and what a repeat of some of
the catastrophic events of the earth’s past, such as major
earthquakes and asteroid collisions, could mean for life
today.
Inhaltsverzeichnis
Acknowledgements.
Introduction.
PART I: CUTTING THROUGH EARTH TIME–MR. SMITH’S SECTION
FROM 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.
Über den Autor
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.
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