Synopses & Reviews
Suppose someone claimed that we are not running out of petroleum? Or that life on Earth began below the surface of our planet? Or that oil and gas are not fossil fuels? Or that if we find extraterrestrial life it is likely to be within, not on, other planets? You might expect to hear statements like these from an author of science fiction. But what if they came from a renowned physicist, an indisputably brilliant scientist who has been called one of the world's most original minds? In the The Deep Hot Biosphere, Thomas Gold sets forth truly controversial and astonishing theories about where oil and gas come from, and how they acquire their organic signatures. The conclusions he reaches in this book might be at first difficult to believe, but they are supported by a growing body of evidence, and by the indisputabel stature and seriousness Gold brings to any scientific enterprise. In this book we see a brilliant and boldly orginal thinker, increasingly a rarity in modern science, as he developes a revolutionary new view about the fundamental workings of our planet. Thomas Gold is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, a Fellow of the Royal Society, and an Emertius Professor at Cornell University. Regarded as one of the most creative and wide-ranging scientists of his generation, he has taughtat Cambridge University and Harvard, and for 20 years was the Director of the Cornell Center for Radiophysics and Space Research.
Synopsis
Foreword by Freeman Dyson; (1) Our Garden of Eden; (2) Life at the Borders; (3) The Deep-Earth Gas Theory; (4) Evidence for Deep-Earth Gas; (5) Resolviong the Petroleum Paradox; (6) The Siljan Experiment; (7) Extending the Theory; (8) Rethinking Earthquakes; (9) The Origin of Life; (10) What Next? // Notes // Acknowledgments // Index
Synopsis
A pioneering physicist explores the likelihood of a subterranean biosphere, one that exists in a gaseous atmosphere at a very high temperature and pressure, and survives on chemical energy--hydrocarbons. This stunning book offers new insights into the origins of life, the origins of natural gas and petroleum, and the distribution of life in the universe.
Synopsis
Does there exist, deep within the earth's crust, a second biosphere-- composed of very primitive, thermophilic (heat-loving) bacteria, and containing more living matter than the entire surface? This idea, first proposed by the author in the early 1980s, is now supported by a growing body of evidence. The implications are astonishing: is the deep biosphere where life originated? Can Mars and other seemingly dead planets contain deep biospheres? Is there yet another--deeper, hotter--biosphere within the earth, based on silicon instead of carbon? This is the first book to explore this very controversial, intriguing theory.
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. 209-225) and index.