Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Chambers, Robert, 1802-1871

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource : multiple file formats

Place of Publication:

Salt Lake City, UT : Project Gutenberg,

Summary:

"Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation" by Robert Chambers is a scientific publication written in the mid-19th century. The work explores the origins and development of the Earth and its life forms, presenting a conjectural view on evolution and the natural history of the cosmos. It delves into the cosmological and geological processes that led to the formation of planetary bodies, as well as the emergence of organic life on Earth, paving the way for the reader to consider the interconnectedness of all natural phenomena. The opening of the book introduces a grand overview of our solar system's structure, showcasing its vastness and the complex arrangement of celestial bodies. Chambers emphasizes the immense distances between stars and solar systems, leading to his hypothesis of the Earth's formation and subsequent geological transformations. He discusses the evidence of a primordial state of nebulous matter that gradually coalesced into stars and planets while hinting at an early, chaotic existence of Earth. Suspending the reader's disbelief, the text lays a foundation for exploring the development of organic life over geological eras, as well as speculating on the potential existence of life forms suited to varying cosmic conditions. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Contents:

The bodies of space, their arrangements and formation

Constituent materials of the earth and of the other bodies of space

The earth formed: era of the primary rocks

Commencement of organic life: sea plants, corals, etc.

Era of the old red sandstone: fishes abundant

Secondary rocks; era of the carboniferous formation; land formed; commencement of land plants

Era of the new red sandstone; terrestrial zoology commences with reptiles; first traces of birds

Era of the oolite; commencement of mammalia

Era of the cretaceous formation

Era of the tertiary formation: mammalia abundant

Era of the superficial formations: commencement of present species

General considerations respecting the origin of the animated tribes

Particular considerations respecting the origin of the animated tribes

Hypothesis of the development of the vegetable and animal kingdoms

MacLeay system of animated nature; this system considered in connexion with the progress of organic creation, and as indicating the natural status of man

Early history of mankind

Mental constitution of animals

Purpose and general condition of the animated creation

Note conclusory.

Credits:

Transcribed from the 1844 John Churchill edition by David Price

Notes:

Wikipedia page about this book: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vestiges_of_the_Natural_History_of_Creation

Reading ease score: 49.2 (College-level). Difficult to read.

Release date is 2004-12-01