Earth : inside and out / Edmond A. Mathez, editor.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Mathez, Edmond A.

American Museum of Natural History.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Geology.

Earth (Planet).

Physical Description:

237 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

New York : New Press : Distributed by W.W. Norton, [2001]

Summary:

Earth: Inside and Out is an exploration of how our planet works, the research into the diverse environments that support life on Earth, and the possibility of life beyond it, with essays by experts, profiles of historically significant scientists, and case studies about present-day researchers.

Published to accompany the American Museum of Natural History's David S. and Ruth L. Gottesman Hall of Planet Earth, which is called "Spectacular... A fun way of learning about our planet" (New York Daily News), the book takes us on a journey to the center of the Earth and beyond, examining the workings of the core and mantle, plate tectonics and earthquakes, volcanoes, the oceans and climate, and how all of these processes intersect in one giant system called Earth.

Written for the general reader, Earth: Inside and Out answers five basic questions: How has Earth evolved? Why are there ocean basins, continents, and mountains? How do we read the rocks? What causes climate and climate change? Why is Earth habitable? Essays by and about leading scientists at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Princeton, Harvard, and Columbia, in addition to government organizations such as NASA, Los Alamos National Laboratory, and the United States Geological Survey let the general reader in on many of Earth's newly revealed secrets. It is illustrated with photographs and drawings and supplemented with a resource and a glossary of key terms.

Contents:

An Earth moon mystery / Robert A. Fogel

Origin and evolution of the continents / Roberta L. Rudnick

Life and the evolution of Earth's atmosphere / Stephen J. Mojzsis

Case study: retrieving a stromatolite from the Sahara Desert

Case study: zircon chronology: dating the oldest material on Earth

Profile: Arthur Holmes: harnessing the mechanics of mantle convection to the theory of continental drift

Global seismic tomography: a snapshot of convection in the Earth / Robert D. van der Hilst

Convection in the core and the generation of the Earth's magnetic field / Gary A. Glatzmaier

Mantle convection / Peter Bunge

Case study: ultra-high-pressure experimentalist who studies the deep Earth

Profile: Inge Lehmann: discoverer of the Earth's inner core

The structure of mountain ranges / Peter H. Molnar

Averting earthquake surprises in the Pacific Northwest / Brian F. Atwater

Hawaii and hotspots: a window to the deep mantle / Steven L. Goldstein

The hazards of volcanoes / Haraldur Sigurdsson

Case study: forecasting earthquakes using paleoseismology

Case study: a conversation with Jacques Malavieille

Profile: Harry Hess: one of the discoverers of seafloor spreading

The erosion of the Grand Canyon / George Billingsley

Death among the dunes: a dinosaur murder mystery / Lowell Dingus, David B. Loope

Case study: mapping Mt. Rainier

Profile: James Hutton: the founder of modern geology

The oceans' role in climate / Martin H. Visbeck

Predicting El Niño / Mark A. Cane

Global warming / Charles F. Keller

An ice core time machine / Paul A. Mayewski

Case study: studying tree rings to learn about global climate

Profile: Milutin Milankovitch: seeking the cause of the ice ages

Earth: the Goldilocks planet / Rachel Oxburgh

Black smokers: incubators on the seafloor / Deborah S. Kelley

Resources of the Earth- where do metals come from? / James Webster

Case study: looking for life in Antarctica ... and on Mars

Case study: mapping hot springs on the deep ocean floor

Profile: Harold C. Urey: discoverer of deuterium and investigator of the origin of life, the origin of the planets, and the climate of the early Earth.

Notes:

"An American Museum of Natural History book."

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN:

1565845951

OCLC:

45386398