The Chronologers' Quest

The Chronologers' Quest PDF Author: Patrick Wyse Jackson
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139457578
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 25

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Book Description
The debate over the age of the Earth has been ongoing for over two thousand years, and has pitted physicists and astronomers against biologists, and religious philosophers against geologists. The Chronologers' Quest tells the fascinating story of our attempts to determine the age of the Earth. This book investigates the many novel methods used in the search for the Earth's age, from James Ussher and John Lightfoot examining biblical chronologies, and from Comte de Buffon and Lord Kelvin determining the length of time for the cooling of the Earth, to the more recent investigations of Arthur Holmes and Clair Patterson into radioactive dating of rocks and meteorites. The Chronologers' Quest is a readable account of the measurement of geological time. It will be of great interest to a wide range of readers, from those with little scientific background to students and scientists in a wide range of the Earth sciences.

The Chronologers' Quest

The Chronologers' Quest PDF Author: Patrick Wyse Jackson
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139457578
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 25

Get Book Here

Book Description
The debate over the age of the Earth has been ongoing for over two thousand years, and has pitted physicists and astronomers against biologists, and religious philosophers against geologists. The Chronologers' Quest tells the fascinating story of our attempts to determine the age of the Earth. This book investigates the many novel methods used in the search for the Earth's age, from James Ussher and John Lightfoot examining biblical chronologies, and from Comte de Buffon and Lord Kelvin determining the length of time for the cooling of the Earth, to the more recent investigations of Arthur Holmes and Clair Patterson into radioactive dating of rocks and meteorites. The Chronologers' Quest is a readable account of the measurement of geological time. It will be of great interest to a wide range of readers, from those with little scientific background to students and scientists in a wide range of the Earth sciences.

The Earth

The Earth PDF Author: Hubert Krivine
Publisher: Verso Books
ISBN: 1781688001
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 364

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Book Description
How mankind discovered the size, trajectory and age of the Earth Our planet’s elliptical orbit around the Sun and its billions-of-years existence are facts we take for granted, matters every literate high school student is expected to grasp. But humanity’s struggle towards these scientific truths lasted millennia. Few of us have more than the faintest notion of the path we have travelled. Hubert Krivine tells the story of the thinkers and scientists whose work allowed our species to put an age to the planet and pinpoint our place in the solar system. It is a history of bold innovators, with a broad cast of contributors – not only Copernicus, Galileo and Kepler, but Halley, Kelvin, Darwin and Rutherford, among many others. Courage, iniquity, religious dogmatism, genius and blind luck all played a part. This was an epic struggle to free the mind from the constraints of cant, ideology and superstition. From this history, Krivine delineates an invaluable philosophy of science, one today under threat from irrationalism and the fundamentalist movements of East and West, which threaten both what we have attained at great cost and what we still have to learn. Scientific progress is not a sufficient condition for social progress; but it is a necessary one. The Earth is not merely a history of scientific learning, but a stirring defence of Enlightenment values in the quest for human advancement.

Three Views on Christianity and Science

Three Views on Christianity and Science PDF Author: Zondervan,
Publisher: Zondervan Academic
ISBN: 0310598559
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 220

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Book Description
When it comes to relating Christianity to modern Western culture, perhaps no topic is more controversial than the relationship between Christianity and science. Outside the church, the myth of a backwards, anti-science Christianity is very common in popular culture and can poison the well before a fruitful dialogue can begin. Within the church, opposing viewpoints on the relation between Christianity and science often lead to division. Three Views on Christianity and Science addresses both types of conflict. Featuring leading evangelical scholars, this book presents three primary options for the compatibility of Christianity and science and models constructive dialogue on the surrounding controversial issues. The highlighted contributors and their views are: Michael Ruse, representing the Independence View - When functioning correctly, science and Christian theology operate independently of each other, seeking answers to different questions through different means. Alister McGrath, representing the Dialogue View - Though the natural sciences and Christian philosophy and theology function differently, they can and should inform each other. Bruce L. Gordon, representing the Constrained Integration View - Science, philosophy, and theology all contribute to our understanding of reality. Their interactions constrain each other and together present an optimally coherent and integrated picture of reality. By engaging with the viewpoints of the contributors, readers will come away with a deeper understanding of the compatibility of science and Christianity, as well as of the positions of those who disagree with them. Scholars, students, pastors, and interested laypeople will be able to make use of this material in research, assignments, sermons and lessons, evangelism, and apologetics. The Counterpoints series presents a comparison and critique of scholarly views on topics important to Christians that are both fair-minded and respectful of the biblical text. Each volume is a one-stop reference that allows readers to evaluate the different positions on a specific issue and form their own, educated opinion.

From Dust to Life

From Dust to Life PDF Author: John Chambers
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691175705
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 332

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Book Description
The remarkable story of how our solar system came to be The birth and evolution of our solar system is a tantalizing mystery that may one day provide answers to the question of human origins. From Dust to Life tells the remarkable story of how the celestial objects that make up the solar system arose from common beginnings billions of years ago, and how scientists and philosophers have sought to unravel this mystery down through the centuries, piecing together the clues that enabled them to deduce the solar system's layout, its age, and the most likely way it formed. Drawing on the history of astronomy and the latest findings in astrophysics and the planetary sciences, John Chambers and Jacqueline Mitton offer the most up-to-date and authoritative treatment of the subject available. They examine how the evolving universe set the stage for the appearance of our Sun, and how the nebulous cloud of gas and dust that accompanied the young Sun eventually became the planets, comets, moons, and asteroids that exist today. They explore how each of the planets acquired its unique characteristics, why some are rocky and others gaseous, and why one planet in particular—our Earth—provided an almost perfect haven for the emergence of life. From Dust to Life is a must-read for anyone who desires to know more about how the solar system came to be. This enticing book takes readers to the very frontiers of modern research, engaging with the latest controversies and debates. It reveals how ongoing discoveries of far-distant extrasolar planets and planetary systems are transforming our understanding of our own solar system's astonishing history and its possible fate.

Earth's Deep History

Earth's Deep History PDF Author: Martin J. S. Rudwick
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022642197X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 371

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Book Description
Mammoths and dinosaurs, tropical forests in northern Europe and North America, worldwide ice ages, continents colliding and splitting apart, comets and asteroids crashing catastrophically onto the Earth these are just some of the surprising features of the eventful history of our planet, stretched out over several billion years. But how was it all discovered, how was the evidence for the Earth s long history collected and interpreted, and what sorts of people put together this reconstruction of a deep past that no human beings could ever have witnessed? In "Earth s Deep History," Martin J. S. Rudwick tells the gripping story of the gradual realization that the Earth s history has not only been unimaginably long but also astonishingly eventful in utterly unexpected ways. Rudwick, the world s premier historian of the Earth sciences, is the first to make the story of the discovery of the Earth s deep history attractively accessible to readers without prior knowledge of either the history or the science, and in so doing he reveals why it matters to us today. "

Human Empire

Human Empire PDF Author: Ted McCormick
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1009123262
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 311

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Book Description
Shows how modern demographic thought began not with counting individuals but with manipulating marginalized and colonized groups.

Radioactivity

Radioactivity PDF Author: Claudio Tuniz
Publisher: OUP Oxford
ISBN: 0191633984
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 210

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Book Description
You cannot hide from radioactivity. Even the book you are holding is slightly radioactive, but there are more serious risks. Radioactivity - the breakdown of unstable atomic nuclei, releasing radiation - is a fundamental process in nature. It is a process that has been harnessed to provide wide and important applications in science, medicine, industry, and energy production. But it remains much misunderstood - and feared, perhaps because nuclear radiation cannot be detected by human senses, and can undoubtedly do great harm if appropriate precautions are not taken. In recent times there have been increasing concerns about nuclear terrorism. The traces of radioactive atoms in rocks have allowed us to understand the nature and history of the Earth, in particular to date events in that history. Radioactive dating has been used for a variety of purposes, from determining the age of the first hominids to the dating of the Turin Shroud. The discovery of radioactivity has improved our survival kit, but also gave us the chance to reach a new level of awareness on the history of our species and its environmental impacts. In this Very Short Introduction, Claudio Tuniz explains the nature of radioactivity and discuss its role in nature. Describing radioactivity in the stars and in the Earth, he also looks at its wide range of applications in biomedicine and in science, as well as the mechanisms of nuclear fission and fusion, and the harnessing of nuclear power. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

The History of Geoconservation

The History of Geoconservation PDF Author: Cynthia V. Burek
Publisher: Geological Society of London
ISBN: 9781862392540
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 328

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Book Description
This book is the first to describe the history of geoconservation. It draws on experience from the UK, Europe and further afield, to explore topics including: what is geoconservation; where, when and how did it start; who was responsible; and how has it differed across the world? Geological and geomorphological features, processes, sites and specimens, provide a resource of immense scientific and educational importance. They also form the foundation for the varied and spectacular landscapes that help define national and local identity as well as many of the great tourism destinations. Mankind's activities, including contributing to enhanced climate change, pose many threats to this resource: the importance of safeguarding and managing it for future generations is now widely accepted as part of sustainable development. Geoconservation is an established and growing activity across the world, with more participants and a greater profile than ever before. This volume highlights a history of challenges, set-backs, successes and visionary individuals and provides a sound basis for taking geoconservation into the future.

The Great Paradox of Science

The Great Paradox of Science PDF Author: Mano Singham
Publisher:
ISBN: 0190055057
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 321

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Book Description
Many people are admirers of science and are eager to know more about it but are woefully unaware of why that knowledge is so powerful. That lack of understanding can be exploited by those with harmful agendas to sow doubt about the validity of the consensus conclusions arrived at by scientists about issues of major importance. This book's explanation of why the theories of science work so well without being true may not only surprise them, it would also enable them to counter harmful anti-science agendas and provide practical benefits by enabling them to make much better judgments about issues in their everyday lives.

Age Of The Earth, The: A Physicist's Odyssey

Age Of The Earth, The: A Physicist's Odyssey PDF Author: Archibald W Hendry
Publisher: World Scientific
ISBN: 9813279710
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 147

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Book Description
This book spells out in detail how the age of the Earth has been determined over the centuries. First — the 'biblical' age: how was the date of Creation 4004 BC figured out? A date which is so important even today ... it is the basis of claims made by millions that the Earth is only about 6000 years old. Next — the response of geologists (and Darwin) for a very old Earth. Then, Kelvin's calculation of how long it would take for a hot Earth to cool down to its present state. And finally, today's answer ('billions'), based on the properties of radioactive materials. So, how old is Planet Earth?