The Abyss of Time

Unraveling the Mystery of the Earth's Age

Claude C. Albritton

252 pages, parution le 27/03/2003

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Résumé

Nominated for the American Book Award in Science in 1981, The Abyss of Time tackles the primary question of the geological sciences: How old is the Earth? Easily accessible and entertaining to nonscientific readers, it reflects the passionate, lifelong thinking of a distinguished scientist and teacher about the metaphor and reality of time.
The conception of the vastness of time is as important to Western thought as the projected vastness of space, and both subjects are steeped in controversy. The author responds gently but authoritatively to creationist theory as he leads readers through the discoveries and adventures that resulted in modern knowledge of the earth's astonishing antiquity. From Steno's contemplation of fossilized shark's teeth in 1666 through Holmes' time scales of 1960, this volume examines the work of Hooke, Buffon, Lyell, Hutton, Cuvier, Darwin, Agassiz, Kelvin, and Rutherford for an elegant account of one of our planet's great scientific detective stories.

Contents

1. Introduction
2. Malta's Cradle
3. Solids within Solids
4. Mr. Hook(e)
5. A Sacred Theory of the Earth
6. Telliamed's Story
7. The Epochs of Nature
8. View from the Brink
9. Father William
10. The Four-dimensional Jigsaw Puzzle
11. A Question of Tempo
12. A Plenitude of Events
13. The Great Tree of Life
14. Kelvin
15. A Numbers Game
16. Radiometric Dating
17. World Enough and Time

Caractéristiques techniques

	PAPIER
Éditeur(s)	Dover
Auteur(s)	Claude C. Albritton
Parution	27/03/2003
Nb. de pages	252
Format	15,5 x 23,5
Couverture	Broché
Poids	370g
Intérieur	Noir et Blanc
EAN13	9780486425566
ISBN13	978-0-486-42556-6