Research Catalog

Title

Transmuted past : the age of the Earth and the evolution of the elements from Lyell to Patterson / Stephen G. Brush.

Author

Brush, Stephen G.

Publication

New York : Cambridge University Press, 1996.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Holdings

Details

Description

x, 134 pages; 25 cm.

Summary

• The age of the Earth has been one of the most disputed numbers in science since the 17th century. Although most earth scientist and astronomers accept the Earth's age to be 4.55 billion years, much significance lies in the manner in which that figure was determined. Transmuted Past follows the development of theories of stellar evolution and nucleosynthesis in the 20th century and describes radiometric methods for estimating the age of the Earth.
• Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, the reputation of the planetary sciences changed significantly; whereas the planetary sciences once played an integral role in science, they eventually came to be accorded a status inferior to atomic physics and cosmology. Professor Brush explores this shift and shows how a planetary science such as geology can provide a useful example of the scientific approach for comparison with a humanistic discipline such as history.

Series Statement

• A history of modern planetary physics ; v. 2
• Brush, Stephen G. History of modern planetary physics ; v. 2.

Subjects

• Earth (Planet) > History
• Nucleosynthesis
• Earth (Planet) > Age
• Earth > Age
• Solar system > History
• Earth > History
• Stars > Evolution

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (p. 111-130) and index.

Contents

• Pt. 1. Earth/History. 1.1. Introduction. 1.1.1. Genesis and geology. 1.1.2. Darwin and Kelvin. 1.1.3. Radiometric dating. 1.1.4. Geology as a science. 1.2. History and geology as ways of studying the past. 1.2.1. The sciences and the humanities. 1.2.2. Ranke and Lyell. 1.2.3. Trevelyan and Geikie. 1.2.4. The English revolution. 1.2.5. Vulcanism and central heat. 1.2.6. Conclusions. 1.3. Kelvin and geological time. 1.3.1. Kelvin's early work on heat conduction theory. 1.3.2. Principle of Dissipation of Energy. 1.3.3. Attack on the Uniformitarians. 1.3.4. Huxley's defense. 1.3.5. Geikie's compromise. 1.4. Planetary science: From underground to underdog. 1.4.1. The stigma of impurity. 1.4.2. Underdog. 1.4.3. Moving through space. 1.4.4. Underground -- Pt. 2. Time and the Elements. 2.1. Cosmic evolution of matter. 2.2. Geochronology in the 20th century. 2.2.1. The assault on Kelvin's time limit. 2.2.2. Geological resistance.
• 2.2.3. Chamberlin's and Russell's estimates. 2.2.4. Astronomical time scales. 2.2.5. Is the Earth older than the universe? 2.2.6. Lead isotopes. 2.2.7. Patterson's estimate. 2.2.8. From geochronology to unleaded gasoline. 2.3. Stellar evolution and the origin of the elements. 2.3.1. Classification of stellar spectra and the H-R diagram. 2.3.2. Relativity and quantum theory. 2.3.3. Formation of the elements from hydrogen. 2.3.4. Revision of the Sun's evolutionary track. 2.3.5. Nucleosynthesis in stars. 2.3.6. Connections.

ISBN

0521552133 (Hardback)

LCCN

95032974

OCLC

ocm32854816

Owning Institutions

Columbia University Libraries