Gaia's Body: Toward a Physiology of Earth (The MIT Press) - Softcover

Volk, Tyler

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0262720426 ISBN 13: 9780262720427

Verlag: MIT Press, 2003

Inhaltsangabe

Book by Volk Tyler

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Críticas:

Full of fresh and stimulating perspectives on Earth System science for any student or teacher in that field. -Bill Chaloner, Biologist Gaia's Body is an outstanding contribution to global ecology...it brings the Gaia concept to the heart of science. -Peter Westbroek, Nature Volk writes splendidly and passionately, but avoids the trap of letting his command of language stand in for scientific clarity. -Fred Pearce, NewScientist Volk... weaves a tapestry of solar radiation, plate tectonics, and atmospheric chemistry, all bound by engaging prose... -Joel D. Gunn, Quarterly Review of Biology

Reseña del editor:

An engaging introduction to the emerging field known as Earth physiology, or geophysiology. The concept of Gaia resonates with a wide range of people-from nature lovers, theologians, and philosophers to environmental and earth systems scientists. The term, which scientist James Lovelock, originator of the Gaia hyposthesis, borrowed from Greek mythology, refers to the interacting system of life, soil, atmosphere, and ocean. Like the interiors of organisms, Gaia contains complex cycles and material transformations driven by biological energy. Gaia's inclusion of life means that from some perspectives it resembles life. But Gaia also differs from organisms in significant ways. Although it has changed through time, it does not evolve in a Darwinian sense. Whereas organisms are open, flow-through systems, Gaia is relatively closed to material transfer across its borders. It exists according to its own level of operating rules, a level as complex as that of organisms and the subject of the emerging field known as Earth physiology, or geophysiology. Blending science and evocative imagery, Gaia's Body offers an engaging introduction to this new field. It explains how every important chemical in the atmosphere is regulated by living processes-why, for example, strange, spaghetti-like bacteria off the coast of Chile have an intimate connection with the plants in Long Island backyards; why "biochemical guilds" may be Earth's most important unit of life; and how scientists have detected the biosphere's "breathing." The book includes a Preface written for the paperback edition.

Über diese Auflage

• Verlag: MIT Press
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0262720426
• ISBN 13: 9780262720427
• Einband: Tapa blanda
• Anzahl der Seiten: 291