The Dating Game: One Man's Search for the Age of the EarthCambridge University Press, 28 mars 2002 - 258 pages How old is the Earth? At the end of the nineteenth century, geologists, biologists, physicists and astronomers were all looking for a clock that would provide an answer to this, the greatest Time question of all. The Dating Game tells the story of one man's vision of developing a geological timescale that would finally lead to an accurate date for the Age of the Earth. Despite scientific opposition, financial hardship and personal tragedy, Arthur Holmes, greatest geologist of the twentieth century, fought for fifty years to convince the establishment of an Earth of great antiquity: a fight which eventually transformed the moribund 'art' of geology into a dynamic science. Cherry Lewis' engaging writing brings Holmes back to life and skilfully weaves his adventures, loves and losses, around the early history and science of dating the Earth, and the discovery of radioactivity - the clock that tells geological time. |
Table des matières
Prelude to the Game | 1 |
A Brief History of Time | 7 |
Darwins Sorest Trouble | 27 |
Mysterious Rays | 40 |
Doomsday Postponed | 50 |
Holidays in Mozambique | 67 |
This Vegetable Prison | 80 |
A Brimful of Promise | 105 |
The Ardnamurchan Affair | 152 |
Rewards and Retributions | 170 |
Why does the Sun Shine? | 179 |
The Age of Uranium | 193 |
The Age of the Earth | 217 |
Loose Ends | 229 |
Thanks and Acknowledgements | 239 |
Selected Bibliography | 247 |
Autres éditions - Tout afficher
The Dating Game: One Man's Search for the Age of the Earth Cherry Lewis Aucun aperçu disponible - 2000 |
Expressions et termes fréquents
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