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Bones, Rocks and Stars: The Science of When Things Happened

Bones, Rocks and Stars: The Science of When Things Happened
By Chris Turney

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Product Description

Understanding how we pinpoint the past is crucial to putting the present in perspective and planning for the future. Now, for the first time, journalist and geologist Chris Turney explains to the non-specialist exactly how archaeologists, paleontologists, and geologists "tell the time". Each chapter explores one famous event or object from the past, walking readers step by step through the detective work used to determine when things happened. From the Ice Age to the pyramids, from human evolution to the Shroud of Turin, Turney reveals how written records, carbon, pollen, constellations, DNA sequencing, and more all play a part in solving the mystery of the true age of objects and events. As we struggle to manage current environmental threats and conservation troubles, we ignore or misunderstand these techniques and their results at our peril.

Product Details

  • Amazon Sales Rank: #269435 in Books
  • Published on: 2007-12-26
  • Released on: 2007-12-26
  • Original language: English
  • Dimensions: .0 pounds
  • Binding: Paperback
  • 200 pages

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. In the tradition of Malcolm Gladwell, geologist Turney provides an absorbing look into the ways humans reckon time both in their daily lives and in their view of the past. Bringing together science and history in a populist, intellectual adventure, Turney takes on an eclectic roster of world-class mysteries, from the identity of King Arthur and the authenticity of the Shroud of Turin to the age of the cosmos. Turney presents his arcane topics-such as the effect of earth's orbital irregularities on the construction of the pyramids-with the ease and affability of your favorite college professor, and narrates the history of these mysteries with a keen sense of drama. Although each of the chapters seems at first glance to be distinct from the rest (the calendar, comets, ice ages, megafauna, the Missing Link, and dinosaurs among them), the work is actually a single investigation broken into many parts, whose underlying unity emerges gradually. Though Turney means for the book to provide a refutation of Creationism (which he feels has no place in scientific discourse or education), he limits his engagement with the issue to the introduction and epilogue, wisely letting his subject matter speak for itself. This book will appeal to a wide audience, particularly those who got a kick out of Blink or Freakonomics.
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Review

"If you like detective stories, you'll love this book. It should satisfy the hungriest of infovores."--New Scientist
"absorbing...will appeal to a wide audience, particularly those who got a kick out of Blink or Freakonomics." --Publishers Weekly
"A fabulous, entertainingly written account of the amazing science
behind calendars, dates and dating objects. Essential reading for anyone
interested in prehistory." Professor Tim Flannery, Director of the South Australian Museum
"A rollicking run through the story of telling the time - lively and well-researched, with many fascinating stories." Professor Michael Benton, author of When Life Nearly Died
"This delightful introduction successfully fuses history, prehistory and earth science. It captures the imagination from its first page, and then takes the reader on a fun and fact-filled world tour through the past."-- Professor Tim White, University of California at Berkeley
"What I like best about the book: It's a scientist clearly explaining what he does for a living and why it is important, at a level that any literate person can understand. Not an easy accomplishment." --scienceblogs.com/pharyngula
"5/5: a book that tackles [these] issues is welcome indeed--that it succeeds so brilliantly is a wonderful surprise." --Peter Andrews of the Natural History Museum, BBC Focus Magazine
"Well researched and covers a lot of ground in a splendidly personal style. Highly recommended" --Quaternary Australasia
 
 

About the Author

Chris Turney did the radiocarbon dating on the recent "Hobbit" fossil and is a geologist at the University of Exeter, UK.