The Proterozoic Biosphere

The Proterozoic Biosphere PDF Author: J. William Schopf
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521366151
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 1408

Get Book Here

Book Description
First published in 1992, The Proterozoic Biosphere was the first major study of the paleobiology of the Proterozoic Earth.

The Proterozoic Biosphere

The Proterozoic Biosphere PDF Author: J. William Schopf
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521366151
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 1408

Get Book Here

Book Description
First published in 1992, The Proterozoic Biosphere was the first major study of the paleobiology of the Proterozoic Earth.

The Molecular Origins of Life

The Molecular Origins of Life PDF Author: André Brack
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521564755
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 432

Get Book Here

Book Description
This 199 book reviews discoveries in astronomy, paleontology, biology and chemistry to help us to understand the likely origin of life on Earth.

The Ecology of Cyanobacteria

The Ecology of Cyanobacteria PDF Author: B.A. Whitton
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 0306468557
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 718

Get Book Here

Book Description
Cyanobacteria make a major contribution to world photosynthesis and nitrogen fixation, but are also notorious for causing nuisances such as dense and often toxic `blooms' in lakes and the ocean. The Ecology of Cyanobacteria: Their Diversity in Time and Space is the first book to focus solely on ecological aspects of these organisms. Its twenty-two chapters are written by some thirty authors, who are leading experts in their particular subject. The book begins with an overview of the cyanobacteria - or blue-green algae, for those who are not specialists - then looks at their diversity in the geological record and goes on to describe their ecology in present environments where they play important roles. Why is one of the key groups of organisms in the Precambrian still one of the most important groups of phototrophs today? The importance of ecological information for rational management and exploitation of these organisms for commercial and other practical purposes is also assessed. Accounts are provided of nuisances as well as the ecology of the commercially successful Spirulina and the role of cyanobacteria in ecosystem recovery from oil pollution. Many chapters include aspects of physiology, biochemistry, geochemistry and molecular biology where these help general understanding of the subject. In addition there are three chapters dealing specifically with molecular ecology. Thirty-two pages of colour photos incorporate about seventy views and light micrographs. These features make the book valuable to a wide readership, including biologists, microbiologists, geologists, water managers and environmental consultants. The book complements the highly successful The Molecular Biology of Cyanobacteria already published by Kluwer.

Early Life on Earth

Early Life on Earth PDF Author: Stefan Bengtson
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 0231080883
Category : Evolutionary paleobiology
Languages : en
Pages : 642

Get Book Here

Book Description
This study is organized around three themes: the origin and early diversification of life during the Archean Eon; the maturation of life and the Earth during the long Proterozoic Eon; and the explosive diversification of multicellular life that marks the dawn of the Phanerozoic Eon. The contributors discuss the coherence of history, the combinatorial generation of taxonomic diversity, early Metazoan evolution, and the Cambrian explosion.

Geochemical Investigations in Earth and Space Sciences

Geochemical Investigations in Earth and Space Sciences PDF Author: R.J. Hill
Publisher: Elsevier
ISBN: 0080472850
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 481

Get Book Here

Book Description
This volume is the product of a technical session organized for the 2002 Geological Society of America Annual Meeting in recognition of Isaac Kaplan's many contributions to various fields of geochemistry. As Kaplan enters his sixth decade of scientific investigation, it is fair to say that his work has touched or influenced innumerable scientists either directly or indirectly. Readers of this volume are presented with a collection of 29 papers written by former students, post-doctoral researchers, friends and colleagues from countries all over the world (including Sweden, Japan, Taiwan, New Zealand, Australia, Israel and the United States) from the fields of stable isotope, forensic, environmental and petroleum geochemistry, atmospheric chemistry and cosmochemistry.The stable isotope section includes papers investigating climate change, diagenesis, recent sediment and petroleum geochemistry and cosmochemistry problems. The forensic and environmental geochemistry section includes a variety of papers ranging from trace metals in soils to atmospheric CO2 projections. The petroleum geochemistry section includes both basic research and applied geochemistry papers. The ancient and recent sediments section contains papers ranging from carbon flux in modern sediments to Precambrian microfossils. All of the articles together cover a broad range of geochemical studies and represent the diverse and distinguished career of Isaac Kaplan.

Biosphere Origin and Evolution

Biosphere Origin and Evolution PDF Author: Nikolay Dobretsov
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 0387686568
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 426

Get Book Here

Book Description
This monograph contains articles based on the oral presentations given at the International Workshop on the Biosphere Origin and Evolution (BOE 2005) held in Novosibirsk, Russia, June 26-29, 2005. The organizers of the event were the Scientific Programme of the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences, which involves 50 institutes of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Frontiers of Life

Frontiers of Life PDF Author: J. Thanh Van Tran
Publisher: Atlantica Séguier Frontières
ISBN: 9782863321256
Category : Cosmochemistry
Languages : en
Pages : 542

Get Book Here

Book Description


Tempo and Mode in Evolution

Tempo and Mode in Evolution PDF Author: for the National Academy of Sciences
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309051916
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 336

Get Book Here

Book Description
Since George Gaylord Simpson published Tempo and Mode in Evolution in 1944, discoveries in paleontology and genetics have abounded. This volume brings together the findings and insights of today's leading experts in the study of evolution, including Ayala, W. Ford Doolittle, and Stephen Jay Gould. The volume examines early cellular evolution, explores changes in the tempo of evolution between the Precambrian and Phanerozoic periods, and reconstructs the Cambrian evolutionary burst. Long-neglected despite Darwin's interest in it, species extinction is discussed in detail. Although the absence of data kept Simpson from exploring human evolution in his book, the current volume covers morphological and genetic changes in human populations, contradicting the popular claim that all modern humans descend from a single woman. This book discusses the role of molecular clocks, the results of evolution in 12 populations of Escherichia coli propagated for 10,000 generations, a physical map of Drosophila chromosomes, and evidence for "hitchhiking" by mutations.

Major Events in the History of Life

Major Events in the History of Life PDF Author: J. William Schopf
Publisher: Jones & Bartlett Learning
ISBN: 9780867202687
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 210

Get Book Here

Book Description
Major Events in the History of Life, present six chapters that summarize our understanding of crucial events that shaped the development of the earth's environment and the course of biological evolution over some four billion years of geological time. The subjects are covered by acknowledged leaders in their fields span an enormous sweep of biologic history, from the formation of planet Earth and the origin of living systems to our earliest records of human activity. Several chapters present new data and new syntheses, or summarized results of new types of analysis, material not usually available in current college textbooks.

Cradle of Life

Cradle of Life PDF Author: J. William Schopf
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691237573
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 404

Get Book Here

Book Description
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.