Research Catalog

Title

Mysteries of terra firma : the age and evolution of the world / James Lawrence Powell.

Author

Powell, James Lawrence, 1936-

Publication

New York : Free Press, ©2001.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

xiii, 256 pages : illustrations; 25 cm

Summary

Describes three geologic revolutions that have transformed our knowledge about the planet: the measurement of geologic time, the discovery of plate tectonics, and the recognition of the role of chance in Earth's evolution.

Subject

• Geological time
• Plate tectonics
• Catastrophes (Geology)
• Historische geologie
• Tijd
• Plaattektoniek
• Evolutie
• Continentverschuiving
• Natuurrampen

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (p. 227-243) and index.

Contents

Part I Time 1 -- 1. Mill of Exquisite Workmanship 3 -- 2. Strange Rays 29 -- 3. End of the Debate 45 -- 4. Age of Meteorites, the Moon, and the Earth 61 -- Part II Drift 75 -- 5. A Science Without a Theory 77 -- 6. Dream of a Great Poet 83 -- 7. Rejection of Drift 91 -- 8. A Plausible Mechanism 99 -- 9. Data from the Abyss 113 -- 10. Seafloor Spreading 123 -- 11. Rejection and Priority 145 -- Part III Chance 163 -- 12. Glimpses of the Moon 165 -- 13. Moonlighting 183 -- 14. Voyages 191 -- 15. A Most Difficult Birth 201 -- 16. Impact Revolution 213 -- 17. Tapestry 223.

ISBN

• 068487282X
• 9780684872827

LCCN

2001051123

OCLC

• ocm62377255
• 62377255
• SCSB-1231163

Owning Institutions

Princeton University Library