Four revolutions in the earth sciences
Subtitle: from heresy to truth
By: James Lawrence Powell
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Published: 2015
Language: eng
Number of pages: 367
ISBN-13: 9780231164481
Subjects: Continental drift; Meteoritic hypothesis; Geology; Geological time; Global warming; History
Description: Over the course of the twentieth century, scientists came to accept four counterintuitive yet fundamental facts about the Earth: deep time, continental drift, meteorite impact, and global warming. This scientific history describes the evolution of these four ideas from heresy to truth, showing how science works in practice and how it inevitably corrects the mistakes of its practitioners. Scientists can be wrong, but they do not stay wrong. In the process, astonishing ideas are born, tested, and over time take root.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.