A History of Modern Planetary Physics: Transmuted Past: Volume 2 (A History of Modern Planetary Physics 3 Volume Hardback set) - Hardcover

Brush, Stephen G.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0521552133 ISBN 13: 9780521552134

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 1996

Synopsis

Where did we come from? Before there was life there had to be something to live on - a planet, a solar system. During the past 200 years, astronomers and geologists have developed and tested several different theories about the origin of the solar system and the nature of the Earth. The three volumes that together make up A History of Modern Planetary Physics present a survey of these theories. The age of the Earth has been one of the most disputed numbers in science since the seventeenth century. Transmuted Past follows the development of theories of stellar evolution and nucleosynthesis in the twentieth century and describes radiometric methods for estimating the age of the Earth. Professor Brush also offers perspectives on the changing reputation of planetary science relative to the 'pure' sciences, such as physics, and a comparison of history and geology as ways of studying the past.

About this title

From the Back Cover

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.

Edition details

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 1996
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0521552133
• ISBN 13: 9780521552134
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 146