One Long Experiment: Scale and Process in Human History (The Critical Moments and Perspectives in Earth History and Paleobiology) - Softcover

Martin, Ronald E.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0231109059 ISBN 13: 9780231109055

Publisher: Columbia University Press, 1998

Synopsis

Addressing the history of the earth in terms of geological process and the resolution of the fossil record, Ronald Martin presents a report on the current state of knowledge on a group of interconnected themes - process, scale and hierarchy, and the methodologies of historical sciences. He examines several questions about geological history: What is the evidence for processes that occur over long periods of geologic history? Why are these long term earth processes significant to the human race? How does one test hypotheses using the fossil record? And what, at the present rate of knowledge, are the limits of that record? As Martin explains, the project of the geologist is to interpret natural phenomena by integrating data into large contexts and constructing a historical narrative. Through the critical examination of these narratives, geologists can determine how the earth evolved into its present state. However, the scale employed in measurement can cause wide variations in the results of any inquiry into geologic process. Martin addresses a wide range of topics, including taphonomy, bioturbation, cycles of carbon dioxide, global cooling, and extinction. He supplements the theatrical framework with explanations of concepts and definitions of key terminology.

About this title

About the Author

Ronald E. Martin is associate professor of geology at the University of Delaware, Newark. He is the winner of the Best Paper Award for 1996 for his essay "Secular Increase in Nutrient Levels Through the Phanerozoic: Implications for Productivity, Biomass, and Diversity of the Marine Biosphere," which appeared in the journal Palaios.

Edition details

• Publisher: Columbia University Press
• Publication date: 1998
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0231109059
• ISBN 13: 9780231109055
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 278