The Abyss of Time: A Study in Geological Time and Earth History - Hardcover

Paul Lyle

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1780460392 ISBN 13: 9781780460390

Publisher: Dunedin Academic Press, 2015

Synopsis

WINNER, ASE SCIENCE BOOK OF THE YEAR 2016/17. Geologists are among that group of scientists who must factor the passage of time into their investigations. Thus they have a perspective on time that sets them apart from many other researchers. The proposition that geological time is vast, encompassing thousands of millions of years, is relatively recent. It is a concept that remains controversial and is not accepted by many people who believe the Earth to have been made to a timetable covering no more than ten thousand years. Paul Lyle examines how man s fascination with time has developed from our earliest ancestors' recognition of the cycles of the sun and the moon. He considers both the passage of time as a series of non-repeatable events, Time's Arrow, and contrasts that perspective of time with that which looks at time as a series of repeated processes, Time's Cycle. Both senses of time may be used to explain geological features on the Earth's surface. The author argues for a greater understanding of geological or deep time as society becomes more aware of the vulnerability of the Earth's resources to over-exploitation by an expanding consumer society. This proposition, coupled with the controversies surrounding global warming, emphasises the importance of understanding geological time in economic and political decision-making. This is a book for those interested in the intellectual challenge presented by the extent of geological time. While written for those environmentalists and policy-makers who wish to better place their concerns and decisions in proper context this is also a book that offers to share a geologist s appreciation of time with the widest possible audience.

About this title

About the Author

Paul Lyle has retired from his post as a lecturer in geology at the University of Ulster and devotes his time to writing on geological issues.

Edition details

• Publisher: Dunedin Academic Press
• Publication date: 2015
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1780460392
• ISBN 13: 9781780460390
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 256