Synopses & Reviews
"Radioactivity is like a clock that never needs adjusting," writes Doug Macdougall. "It would be hard to design a more reliable timekeeper." In Nature's Clocks, Macdougall tells how scientists who were seeking to understand the past arrived at the ingenious techniques they now use to determine the age of objects and organisms. By examining radiocarbon (C-14) datingand#151;the best known of these methodsand#151;and several other techniques that geologists use to decode the distant past, Macdougall unwraps the last century's advances, explaining how they reveal the age of our fossil ancestors such as "Lucy," the timing of the dinosaurs' extinction, and the precise ages of tiny mineral grains that date from the beginning of the earth's history. In lively and accessible prose, he describes how the science of geochronology has developed and flourished. Relating these advances through the stories of the scientists themselvesand#151;James Hutton, William Smith, Arthur Holmes, Ernest Rutherford, Willard Libby, and Clair Pattersonand#151;Macdougall shows how they used ingenuity and inspiration to construct one of modern science's most significant accomplishments: a timescale for the earth's evolution and human prehistory.
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and#8220;The heart of the book reveals ingenious science.and#8221;
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and#8220;For time-conscious readers, Nature's Clocks provides satisfaction beyond measure.and#8221;
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and#8220;A helpful handbook on how we are now able to travel to the distant past.and#8221;
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“Guaranteed to improve ones understanding.” Natl Cntr For Science Education
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“Rich in historical tidbits.” New Scientist
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and#8220;Rich in historical tidbits.and#8221;
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and#8220;Guaranteed to improve oneand#8217;s understanding.and#8221;
Synopsis
"A lucid and engaging account of the scientific revolution that changed the way we think about our planet and ourselves."and#151;James Lawrence Powell, author of Grand Canyon and Mysteries of Terra Firma
About the Author
Doug Macdougall is Professor Emeritus of Earth Sciences at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, and currently resides in Edinburgh, Scotland. He is the author of Frozen Earth: The Once and Future Story of Ice Ages (UC Press, 2004) and A Short History of Planet Earth.
Table of Contents
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1. No Vestige of a Beginning . . .
Chapter 2. Mysterious Rays
Chapter 3. Wild Billand#8217;s Quest
Chapter 4. Changing Perceptions
Chapter 5. Getting the Lead Out
Chapter 6. Dating the Boundaries
Chapter 7. Clocking Evolution
Chapter 8. Ghostly Forests and Mediterranean Volcanoes
Chapter 9. More and More from Less and Less
Appendix A. The Geological Time Scale
Appendix B. Periodic Table of the Chemical Elements
Appendix C. Additional Notes
Glossary
Resources and Further Reading
Index