Author: J. D. Macdougall Publisher: Univ of California Press ISBN: 0520261615 Category : Nature Languages : en Pages : 284
Book Description
"A lucid and engaging account of the scientific revolution that changed the way we think about our planet and ourselves."—James Lawrence Powell, author of Grand Canyon and Mysteries of Terra Firma
Author: Doug Macdougall Publisher: Univ of California Press ISBN: 0520933443 Category : Science Languages : en Pages : 285
Book Description
"Radioactivity is like a clock that never needs adjusting," writes Doug Macdougall. "It would be hard to design a more reliable timekeeper." In Nature's Clocks, Macdougall tells how scientists who were seeking to understand the past arrived at the ingenious techniques they now use to determine the age of objects and organisms. By examining radiocarbon (C-14) dating—the best known of these methods—and several other techniques that geologists use to decode the distant past, Macdougall unwraps the last century's advances, explaining how they reveal the age of our fossil ancestors such as "Lucy," the timing of the dinosaurs' extinction, and the precise ages of tiny mineral grains that date from the beginning of the earth's history. In lively and accessible prose, he describes how the science of geochronology has developed and flourished. Relating these advances through the stories of the scientists themselves—James Hutton, William Smith, Arthur Holmes, Ernest Rutherford, Willard Libby, and Clair Patterson—Macdougall shows how they used ingenuity and inspiration to construct one of modern science's most significant accomplishments: a timescale for the earth's evolution and human prehistory.
Author: James Jespersen Publisher: Courier Corporation ISBN: 0486409139 Category : Science Languages : en Pages : 322
Book Description
Clear and accessible introduction to the concept of time examines measurement, historic timekeeping methods, uses of time information, role of time in science and technology, and much more. Over 300 illustrations.
Author: Pat Hutchins Publisher: Simon and Schuster ISBN: 1481410725 Category : Juvenile Fiction Languages : en Pages : 32
Book Description
When the hall clock reads twenty minutes past four, the attic clock reads twenty-three minutes past four, the kitchen clock reads twenty-five minutes past four, and the bedroom clock reads twenty-six minutes past four, what should Mr. Higgins do? He can't tell which of his clocks tells the right time. He is in for a real surprise when the Clockmaker shows him that they are all correct!
Author: Geoff McNamara Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media ISBN: 038776562X Category : Science Languages : en Pages : 192
Book Description
Pulsars are rapidly spinning neutron stars, the collapsed cores of once massive stars that ended their lives as supernova explosions. In this book, Geoff McNamara explores the history, subsequent discovery and contemporary research into pulsar astronomy. The story of pulsars is brought right up to date with the announcement in 2006 of a new breed of pulsar, Rotating Radio Transients (RRATs), which emit short bursts of radio signals separated by long pauses. These may outnumber conventional radio pulsars by a ratio of four to one. Geoff McNamara ends by pointing out that, despite the enormous success of pulsar research in the second half of the twentieth century, the real discoveries are yet to be made including, perhaps, the detection of the hypothetical pulsar black hole binary system by the proposed Square Kilometre Array - the largest single radio telescope in the world.
Author: Robynne Eagan Publisher: Lorenz Educational Press ISBN: 0787784400 Category : Languages : en Pages : 148
Book Description
Help children measure and tell time by the sun, the clock and the calendar; and learn why there are 24 hours in a day, 7 days in a week and 365 days in a year. Here's a cross-curriculum approach to time with learning activities that bring together history, science, language arts and math. A comprehensive look at time from the ancient civilizations who first tried to understand, arrange and measure it - to modern society where we organize our lives around the clock!
Author: Tristan Gooley Publisher: The Experiment ISBN: 1615195912 Category : Nature Languages : en Pages : 384
Book Description
From the New York Times-bestselling author of The Secret World of Weather and The Lost Art of Reading Nature’s Signs, learn to notice nature’s hidden clues all around you “A captivating guide to finding one’s way in the wild.”—The Wall Street Journal Publisher's note: The Nature Instinct was published in the UK under the title Wild Signs and Star Paths. Master outdoorsman Tristan Gooley was just about to make camp when he sensed danger—but couldn’t say why. After sheltering elsewhere, Gooley returned to investigate: What had set off his subconscious alarm? Suddenly, he understood: All of the tree trunks were slightly bent. The ground had already shifted once and could easily become treacherous in a storm. The Nature Instinct shows how we, too, can unlock this intuitive understanding of our surroundings. Learn to sense the forest’s edge from deep in the woods, or whether a wild animal might pose danger—before you even know how you know.
Author: Hale Bradt Publisher: Cambridge University Press ISBN: 9780521535519 Category : Science Languages : en Pages : 462
Book Description
Astronomy Methods is an introduction to the basic practical tools, methods and phenomena that underlie quantitative astronomy. Taking a technical approach, the author covers a rich diversity of topics across all branches of astronomy, from radio to gamma-ray wavelengths. Topics include the quantitative aspects of the electromagnetic spectrum, atmospheric and interstellar absorption, telescopes in all wavebands, interferometry, adaptive optics, the transport of radiation through matter to form spectral lines, and neutrino and gravitational-wave astronomy. Clear, systematic presentations of the topics are accompanied by diagrams and problem sets. Written for undergraduates and graduate students, this book contains a wealth of information that is required for the practice and study of quantitative and analytical astronomy and astrophysics.
Author: Jessica Riskin Publisher: University of Chicago Press ISBN: 022630292X Category : Philosophy Languages : en Pages : 571
Book Description
A core principle of modern science holds that a scientific explanation must not attribute will or agency to natural phenomena. "The Restless Clock" examines the origins and history of this, in particular as it applies to the science of living things. This is also the story of a tradition of radicals--dissenters who embraced the opposite view, that agency is an essential and ineradicable part of nature. Beginning with the church and courtly automata of early modern Europe, Jessica Riskin guides us through our thinking about the extent to which animals might be understood as mere machines. We encounter fantastic robots and cyborgs as well as a cast of scientific and philosophical luminaries, including Descartes and Leibnitz, Lamarck and Darwin, whose ideas gain new relevance in Riskin's hands. The book ends with a riveting discussion of how the dialectic continues in genetics, epigenetics, and evolutionary biology, where work continues to naturalize different forms of agency. "The Restless Clock "reveals the deeply buried roots of current debates in artificial intelligence, cognitive science, and evolutionary biology.
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Author: J. D. Macdougall
Author: Doug Macdougall
Author: James Jespersen
Author: Pat Hutchins
Author: Geoff McNamara
Author: Robynne Eagan
Author: Tristan Gooley
Author: Hale Bradt
Author: Joseph Daniele
Author: Jessica Riskin