| Edition |
2nd ed. |
| Description |
1 online resource |
| Contents |
Ch. 1. Musing -- chapter 2. Christian Doppler and his effect. 2.1. Waves, frequency and wavelength. 2.2. The Doppler effect and sound waves. 2.3. The Doppler effect and astronomy -- chapter 3. Measuring distances in the universe. 3.1. The parallax method. 3.2. Main-sequence stars. 3.3. Using cepheid variables. 3.4. Spinning galaxies. 3.5. Using supernovae as standard sources -- chapter 4. Edwin Hubble's expanding universe. 4.1. Galaxies, clusters and superclusters. 4.2. Hubble's law -- chapter 5. A weird and wonderful universe. 5.1. The classical universe. 5.2. The relativistic universe. 5.3. Missing mass and dark energy -- chapter 6. The nature of matter. 6.1. Atoms and molecules. 6.2. The discovery of electrons. 6.3. The atomic nucleus. 6.4. The elusive neutrino and antiparticles. 6.5. Quarks -- chapter 7. The Big-Bang hypothesis. 7.1. Origin of the Big-Bang hypothesis. 7.2. What happened in the Big Bang? -- chapter 8. How matter can clump together. 8.1. Gravitational instability. 8.2. The role of turbulence. 8.3. Cooling processes -- chapter 9. The universe develops structure -- chapter 10. The first stars are born, live and die. 10.1. The birth of stars. 10.2. The life of stars. 10.3. The final journey -- chapter 11. Making the sun -- and similar stars. 12.1. The ingredients for star formation. 12.2. Forming dark, cool clouds. 12.3. Forming protostars. 12.4. The rotation of stars. 12.5. Observation and theory relating to star formation. 12.6. The formation of binary systems -- chapter 13. A crowded environment. 13.1. Embedded clusters. 13.2. Interactions between stars -- chapter 14. Understanding the nature of the solar system. 14.1. Ptolemy's Earth-centred model. 14.2. The Copernicus heliocentric model. 14.3. Tycho Brahe. 14.4. Johannes Kepler. 14.5. Galileo Galilei. 14.6. Isaac Newton -- chapter 15. Introducing the planets. 15.1. An overall description of the planetary System. 15.2. The major planets. 15.3. The terrestrial planets -- chapter 16. Satellites galore. 16.1. The satellites of Jupiter. 16.2. The satellites of Saturn. 16.3. The satellites of Uranus. 16.4. The satellites of Neptune. 16.5. The satellites of Mars. 16.6. The moon -- chapter 17. 'Vermin of the sky' and other small bodies. 17.1. Bode's law. 17.2. Asteroids galore. 17.3. Meteorites. 17.4. Comets. 17.5. The Kuiper Belt -- chapter 18. Planets galore. 18.1. Detecting planets around other stars. 18.2. Imaging the effects of unseen exoplanets. 18.3. Images of exoplanets -- chapter 19. Making planets. 19.1. Embedded clusters, stars and protostars. 19.2. Interactions between stars and compressed regions. 19.3. Interactions between stars and protostars -- how many planetary systems? 19.4. What problems remain? -- chapter 20. Shrinking orbits and the survival of planetary systems. 20.1. Resistance and decaying orbits. 20.2. Viscosity. 20.3. Mass-dependent resistance. 20.4. The form of the resisting medium. 20.5. Simulations of orbital evolution. 20.6. Eccentric orbits. 20.7. Commensurate orbits. 20.8. The survival of planetary systems. |
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Ch. 21. Now satellites form. 21.1. An outline of the solar nebula theory. 21.2. The formation of satellites -- chapter 22. What can be learnt from meteorites? 22.1. The origin of asteroids. 22.2. Aspects of radioactivity. 22.3. Melting of planetesimals. 22.4. Details of meteorite composition -- chapter 23. A little-bang theory and the terrestrial planets. 23.1. The problem of terrestrial planets. 23.2. The precession of evolving orbits. 23.3. A postulated planetary collision. 23.4. The composition of the colliding planets. 23.5. Temperature generated by the collision process. 23.6. Modelling the collision -- chapter 24. The moon -- its structure and history. 24.1. Ideas about the origin of the moon. 24.2. The planetary collision and the moon -- chapter 25. The very small planets -- Mars and Mercury. 25.1. The origin of Mars. 25.2. The origin of Mercury. 25.3. The moon, Mars and Mercury -- a summary -- chapter 26. Smaller bodies of the solar system. 26.1. Asteroid formation. 26.2. Comets and the Kuiper Belt. 26.3. The Oort Cloud. 26.4. The dwarf planets. 26.5. The relationship of Pluto and Triton to Neptune -- chapter 27. The origin of isotopic anomalies in meteorites. 27.1. Magnesium. 27.2. Oxygen. 27.3. Carbon and silicon. 27.4. Nitrogen. 27.5. Neon -- chapter 28. The Earth settles down -- more-or-less. 28.1. The incandescent Earth. 28.2. An atmosphere forms -- chapter 29. What is life? 29.1. Defining life. 29.2. The characteristics of life -- chapter 30. Forms of life. 30.1. Bacteria. 30.2. Eukaryota. 30.3. Archaea. 30.4. An overview -- chapter 31. Nineteenth century genetics -- the survival of the fittest. 31.1. Mendel and his peas. 31.2. The discovery of the chromosome. 31.3. Lamarck's evolutionary ideas. 31.4. Darwin's evolutionary ideas. 31.5. A mathematical illustration of survival of the fittest -- chapter 32. Twentieth century genetics -- the alphabets of life. 32.1. Symbols and alphabets. 32.2. Proteins and the protein alphabet. 32.3. The DNA alphabet. 32.4. Determining the structure of DNA. 32.5. The role of RNA. 32.6. Sexual reproduction -- chapter 33. Life begins on Earth. 33.1. Early ideas on the origin of life. 33.2. The origin of the components of the molecules of life. 33.3. The origin of the molecules of life. 33.4. The source of life. 33.5. The creation of self-replicating DNA -- chapter 34. The restless Earth. 34.1. The jigsaw-puzzle Earth. 34.2. The evidence for continental drift. 34.3. The mechanism of continental drift. 34.4. Volcanism. 34.5. Earthquakes -- chapter 35. Oxygen, ozone and life. 35.1. The role of oxygen and ozone. 35.2. The first free oxygen is produced -- chapter 36. The evolution of life -- from Archaea to early mammals. 36.1. The Hadean era (4,500-3,800 My BP). 36.2. The Archaean era (3,800-2,500 My BP). 36.3. The Proterozoic era (2,500-543 My BP). 36.4. The Paleozoic era (543-251 My BP). 36.5. The Mesozoic era (251-65.5 My BP) -- chapter 37. Early mammals to man. 37.1. The Cenozoic era (65.5 My BP to present) -- chapter 38. Man and the Earth. 38.1. Environment, chance and evolution. 38.2. Man arrives and begins to manipulate nature. 38.3. The rules of the game change -- man modifies the environment -- chapter 39. Musing again. |
| Summary |
The three greatest scientific mysteries, which remain poorly understood, are the origin of the universe, the origin of life and the development of consciousness. This book describes the processes preceding the Big Bang, the creation of matter, the concentration of that matter into stars and planets, the development of simple life forms and the theory of evolution that has given higher life forms, including mankind. There are many popular and excellent science books that present various aspects of science. However, this book follows a narrow scientific pathway from the Big Bang to mankind, and depicts the causal relationship between each step and the next. The science covered will be enough to satisfy most readers. Many important areas of science are dealt with, and these include cosmology, particle physics, atomic physics, galaxy and star formation, planet formation and aspects of evolution. The necessary science is described in a narrative form that general-interest readers should understand, without the use of equations or formulae. This 2nd edition includes several updates on the subjects that form the pillars of this book. They are: cosmology and astronomy, the features and formation of the solar system, the origin of life, and genetics and evolution. This book will appeal to readers with an interest in biology and those curious about the origins of the universe. |
| Subject |
Big bang theory.
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SCIENCE -- Cosmology.
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Big bang theory. (OCoLC)fst00831589
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| Other Form: |
Print version: 9781848169333 |
| ISBN |
9781848169357 (electronic bk.) |
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1848169353 (electronic bk.) |
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