Alone in the Universe: Why Our Planet Is Unique Capa dura - 2011 - 1st Edição
por John Gribbin
Descrição da aba
Are we alone in the universe?
For some of us, it is an article of faith; for others, it's simple arithmetic: with hundreds of billions of stars in our galaxy, billions of which are circled by planets capable of supporting life, there simply must be intelligent beings elsewhere in the Milky Way. Throw in the countless other galaxies, and it goes almost without saying that the universe abounds with intelligent species capable of building civilizations, right? Not so fast.
In Alone in the Universe, acclaimed science writer and astrophysicist John Gribbin builds a convincing case for the uniqueness of intelligent life on Earth. Asserting that a "habitable" planet need not be inhabited by intelligent beings, he cites a wealth of recent scientific findings to suggest that the incredible diversity of life on Earth resulted from a chain of events so unlikely as to be unrepeatable in a galaxy the size of the Milky Way.
The most significant of these events was the impact of a Mars-size object with Earth soon after our planet formed. It was this unimaginable impact, Gribbin argues, that changed almost everything about our planet. It gave us a moon, and thus tides; altered the tilt of Earth in its orbit around the sun; and set the scene for continents to drift.
A novel feature of Gribbin's argument is the suggestion that another catastrophic event occurred in our solar system six hundred million years ago. An enormous super-comet collided with Venus, scattering ice balls and dust grains across the inner solar system. A side effect of this activity triggered a freezing of Earth into a "snowball" state.
The most profound transformation then occurred among the microscopic, single-celled organisms that had populated Earth virtually unchanged for three billion years. Suddenly, as Earth thawed, complex multicelled organisms appeared, including the first complex sea animals, and life began moving onto land.
This sudden profusion of life, known as the Cambrian Explosion, marked the effective beginning of rapid evolution on Earth--but it took a disaster of cosmic proportions to set it off. Had it not happened, Gribbin argues, there would be no intelligent life here. What are the chances that such an improbable chain of events could occur twice in the same galaxy? Zero, says Gribbin.
Is there an upside to Alone in the Universe? For one thing, Gribbin says, Earth and human beings are special, after all. We are no longer insignificant specks in the cosmos but the unique products of an extraordinary set of circumstances that have as yet occurred nowhere else in our galaxy, and possibly not in any galaxy. As such, we are the only witnesses with an understanding of the origin and nature of the universe, and our home is the only "intelligent" planet. Gribbin ends his discourse with an impassioned plea for action against climate change and to restore the ailing ecological systems of a planet like no other.
Detalhes
- Título Alone in the Universe: Why Our Planet Is Unique
- Autor John Gribbin
- Encadernação Capa dura
- Número da edição 1st
- Edição 1
- Páginas 240
- Volumes 1
- Idioma ENG
- Editorial Trade Paper Press, Hoboken:
- Data de publicação 2011-12-01
- Features Bibliography, Dust Cover, Index, Price on Product - Canadian, Table of Contents
- ISBN 9781118147979 / 1118147979
- Peso 0.97 libras (0.44 kg)
- Dimensão 9.36 x 6.68 x 0.98 in. (23.77 x 16.97 x 2.49 cm)
- Library of Congress subjects Solar system, Sun
- Número da Biblioteca do Congresso dos Estados Unidos 2011034995
- Dewey Decimal Code 525
Revisões da mídia
Citações
- Choice, 06/01/2012, Page 0
- Kirkus Reviews, 10/15/2011, Page 0
- Library Journal, 11/15/2011, Page 91
- Publishers Weekly, 10/24/2011, Page 48
Mais exemplares à venda
Alone in the Universe: Why Our Planet Is Unique
por John Gribbin
- Usado
- Muito Bom
- Capa dura
- Condição
- Usado - Muito Bom
- Encadernação
- Hardcover
- ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
- 9781118147979 / 1118147979
- Quantidade Disponível
- 1
- Livreiro
-
Syracuse, New York, United States
- Preço do item
-
€ 5,69€ 5,69 frete para USA
Mostrar detalhes
Alone in the Universe: Why Our Planet Is Unique
por Gribbin, John
- Usado
- Bom
- Capa dura
- Condição
- Usado - Bom
- Encadernação
- Hardcover
- ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
- 9781118147979 / 1118147979
- Quantidade Disponível
- 2
- Livreiro
-
Seattle, Washington, United States
- Preço do item
-
€ 6,14Frete grátis para USA
Mostrar detalhes
Alone in the Universe: Why Our Planet Is Unique
por Gribbin, John
- Usado
- Muito Bom
- Capa dura
- Condição
- Usado - Muito Bom
- Encadernação
- Hardcover
- ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
- 9781118147979 / 1118147979
- Quantidade Disponível
- 2
- Livreiro
-
Seattle, Washington, United States
- Preço do item
-
€ 6,14Frete grátis para USA
Mostrar detalhes
Alone in the Universe : Why Our Planet Is Unique
por John Gribbin
- Usado
- Bom
- Capa dura
- Condição
- Usado - Bom
- Encadernação
- Hardcover
- ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
- 9781118147979 / 1118147979
- Quantidade Disponível
- 1
- Livreiro
-
Seattle, Washington, United States
- Preço do item
-
€ 6,14Frete grátis para USA
Mostrar detalhes
Alone in the Universe : Why Our Planet Is Unique
por Gribbin, John
- Usado
- Condição
- Used - Good
- ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
- 9781118147979 / 1118147979
- Quantidade Disponível
- 1
- Livreiro
-
Mishawaka, Indiana, United States
- Preço do item
-
€ 7,18Frete grátis para USA
Mostrar detalhes
Alone in the Universe: Why Our Planet Is Unique
por Gribbin, John
- Usado
- Muito Bom
- Brochura
- Condição
- Usado - Muito Bom
- Encadernação
- Paperback
- ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
- 9781118147979 / 1118147979
- Quantidade Disponível
- 2
- Livreiro
-
GORING BY SEA, West Sussex, United Kingdom
- Preço do item
-
€ 9,10€ 10,27 frete para USA
Mostrar detalhes
Alone in the Universe: Why Our Planet Is Unique
por John Gribbin
- Usado
- Capa dura
- Condição
- Used - Good
- Encadernação
- Hardcover
- ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
- 9781118147979 / 1118147979
- Quantidade Disponível
- 1
- Livreiro
-
Hutchinson, Kansas, United States
- Preço do item
-
€ 7,37€ 4,69 frete para USA
Mostrar detalhes
Alone in the Universe: Why Our Planet Is Unique
por Gribbin, John
- Novo
- Condição
- Novo
- ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
- 9781118147979 / 1118147979
- Quantidade Disponível
- 2
- Livreiro
-
LONG BEACH, California, United States
- Preço do item
-
€ 9,24€ 3,78 frete para USA
Mostrar detalhes
Alone in the Universe: Why Our Planet Is Unique
por Gribbin, John
- Novo
- Capa dura
- Condição
- Novo
- Encadernação
- Hardcover
- ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
- 9781118147979 / 1118147979
- Quantidade Disponível
- 1
- Livreiro
-
Exeter, Devon, United Kingdom
- Preço do item
-
€ 28,81€ 11,98 frete para USA
Mostrar detalhes
Alone in the Universe: Why Our Planet Is Unique
por Gribbin, John
- Usado
- Bom
- Capa dura
- Condição
- Usado - Bom
- Encadernação
- Hardcover
- ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
- 9781118147979 / 1118147979
- Quantidade Disponível
- 1
- Livreiro
-
Newport Coast, California, United States
- Preço do item
-
€ 28,30Frete grátis para USA