Synopses & Reviews
Understanding how we pinpoint the past is crucial to putting the present in perspective and planning for the future. Now, for the first time, journalist and geologist Chris Turney explains to the non-specialist exactly how archaeologists, paleontologists, and geologists "tell the time". Each chapter explores one famous event or object from the past, walking readers step by step through the detective work used to determine when things happened. From the Ice Age to the pyramids, from human evolution to the Shroud of Turin, Turney reveals how written records, carbon, pollen, constellations, DNA sequencing, and more all play a part in solving the mystery of the true age of objects and events. As we struggle to manage current environmental threats and conservation troubles, we ignore or misunderstand these techniques and their results at our peril.
Review
"A fabulous, entertainingly written account of the amazing science
behind calendars, dates and dating objects. Essential reading for anyone
interested in prehistory." Professor Tim Flannery, Director of the South Australian Museum
Review
"A rollicking run through the story of telling the time lively and well-researched, with many fascinating stories." Professor Michael Benton, author of When Life Nearly Died
Review
"If you like detective stories, you'll love this book. It should satisfy the hungriest of infovores."- New Scientist
Synopsis
Understanding how we pinpoint the past is crucial to putting the present in perspective and planning for the future. Now, for the first time, journalist and geologist Chris Turney explains to the non-specialist exactly how archaeologists, paleontologists, and geologists "tell the time". Each chapter explores one famous event or object from the past, walking readers step by step through the detective work used to determine when things happened.
From the Ice Age to the pyramids, from human evolution to the Shroud of Turin, Turney reveals how written records, carbon, pollen, constellations, DNA sequencing, and more all play a part in solving the mystery of the true age of objects and events. As we struggle to manage current environmental threats and conservation troubles, we ignore or misunderstand these techniques and their results at our peril.
Synopsis
A scientific journalist explains to lay readers how archaeologists, paleontologists, and geologists establish the time periods of past events and objects, in a step-by-step account that demystifies investigative dating processes, from written records and carbon dating to DNA sequencing and constellation charting, of such artifacts and periods as the pyramids, the Shroud of Turin, and the Ice Age.
Synopsis
From pyramids to dinosaurs, comets to King Arthur, Chris Turney explains how we pinpoint when things happened in a way everyone can grasp
About the Author
Chris Turney did the radiocarbon dating on the recent "Hobbit" fossil and is a geologist at the University of Wollongong, Australia. He lives in Australia.
Table of Contents
List of Figures and Tables
List of Permissions and Figure Sources
Acknowledgements
Introduction
The Ever-changing Calendar
A hero in a dark age
The Forged Cloth of Turin
The Pyramids and the Bear's Groin
The Volcano that Shook Europe
The Mandate from Heaven
The Coming of the Ice
The Lost Worlds
And Then there was One
The Hole in the Ground
Towards the Limits of Time
Epilogue: Time's up for Creationism
Further Reading
Index