Evolution of the Earth - Softcover

Dott, Robert H.; Batten, Roger L.; Prothero, Donald R.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0070178038 ISBN 13: 9780070178038

Publisher: McGraw-Hill Inc.,US, 1994

Synopsis

This text takes a historical approach to the development of ideas about history. This is particularly evident in the first seven chapters, allowing the reader to recapture the development of major principles and concepts developed by past generations. The authors focus on "how do we know?" as much as "what do we know?", emphasizing concepts, not just information. Three maxims guide the writing: new concepts of time; the universality of irreversible evolutionary changes; and the importance throughout time of ecological interactions between life and the physical world. Most chapters feature a summary time-line that puts the entire sequence of events into a quick visual-reference frame. The text also contains end-of-chapter citations, case studies and chapter summaries. A key chapter suggests some conclusions following from a study of earth history. In this edition, the chapter on evolution and all sections dealing with the history of life have been rewritten, emphasizing the dynamic new ideas that have come out of paleobiology in the past decade. Chapters on Mesozoic and Cenozoic tectonics, particularly material covering the Cordilleran region, have been rewritten to reflect major changes in our understanding of those topics. Developments in paleoclimatology are also included.

About this title

From the Publisher

Earth Systems approach, including much coverage of atmospheres and oceans, continues to be included in the sixth edition.
Complete and thorough updating of material: Major updates have been incorporated into the topics of:

- Precambrian continents

- Cambrian explosion

- Great mass extinctions
New end-of-chapter review questions have been added.

Book Description

Evolution of the Earth reveals the logical framework of geology, shows relations of the science to the totality of human knowledge, and gives some idea of what it is to be a participant in the discipline. In keeping with the preference for a “How do we know?” rather than “What do we know?” approach, the authors stress what assumptions are made by earth historians, what kinds of evidence (and tools for gathering that evidence), and what processes of reasoning and limitations of hypotheses are involved in reconstructing and interpreting the past.

Each chapter begins with a list of highlights entitled “Major Concepts”. Many chapters have a summary timeline that puts the entire sequence of events into a quick visual reference frame. The use of dioramas and reconstructions of extinct animals and plants has been greatly expanded, so that students can get a more vivid concept of typical life in any part of the geologic past. In many places, the authors have supplied a full page of color photos of classic fossils from each period to improve the visual recognition of the organisms that give life its distinctive history. The areas of hottest controversy, such as mass extinctions, dinosaur endothermy, the origin of life, and controversies over late Proterozoic tectonics and glaciation, have been given separate sections so that students can appreciate the different sides of the debates.

Edition details

• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Inc.,US
• Publication date: 1994
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0070178038
• ISBN 13: 9780070178038
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 5
• Number of pages: 704