Reading the Rocks: The Autobiography of the Earth.READING THE ROCKS: The Autobiography of the Earth MARCIA BJORNERUD Earth keeps a "stone diary," explains geologist Bjornerud. That is, Earth has kept for 4 billion years a record of its changes and its inhabitants' changes, all stored in rocks and fossils. Starting with the supernova supernova, a massive star in the latter stages of stellar evolution that suddenly contracts and then explodes, increasing its energy output as much as a billionfold. that led to the planet's formation and concluding with today's human-made changes, the author explains modern geologic theories. To keep the text lively, she intersperses fascinating tidbits TidBITS is an award-winning electronic newsletter and web site dealing primarily with Apple Computer and Macintosh-related topics. Internet publication TidBITS has been published weekly since April 16, 1990, which makes it one of the longest running Internet publications. , such as a discussion of "snowball Earth The Snowball Earth hypothesis as it currently stands[2] proposes that the Earth was entirely covered by ice in part of the Cryogenian period of the Proterozoic eon, and perhaps at other times in the history of Earth. ," the planet at a time so cold that all the oceans froze. The book is an overview cast in nontechnical language, so readers shouldn't look here for in-depth discussions of geoscience ge·o·sci·ence n. Any one of the sciences, such as geology or geochemistry, that deals with the earth. ge . However, this book is a good choice for novices to the discipline or people whose knowledge of geology may not be up-to-date. Westview Press, 2005, 237 p., hardcover, $26.00. |
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