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Frozen Earth: The Once and Future Story of Ice Ages
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 551.792
EAN: 9780520248243
Edition: 1
ISBN: 0520248244
Label: University of California Press
Manufacturer: University of California Press
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 267
Publication Date: May 02, 2006
Publisher: University of California Press
Studio: University of California Press
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Editorial Review:
In this engrossing and accessible book, Doug Macdougall explores the causes and effects of ice ages that have gripped our planet throughout its history, from the earliest known glaciation--nearly three billion years ago--to the present. Following the development of scientific ideas about these dramatic events, Macdougall traces the lives of many of the brilliant and intriguing characters who have contributed to the evolving understanding of how ice ages come about. As it explains how the great Pleistocene Ice Age has shaped the earth's landscape and influenced the course of human evolution, Frozen Earth also provides a fascinating look at how science is done, how the excitement of discovery drives scientists to explore and investigate, and how timing and chance play a part in the acceptance of new scientific ideas.
Macdougall describes the awesome power of cataclysmic floods that marked the melting of the glaciers of the Pleistocene Ice Age. He probes the chilling evidence for "Snowball Earth," an episode far back in the earth's past that may have seen our planet encased in ice from pole to pole. He discusses the accumulating evidence from deep-sea sediment cores, as well as ice cores from Greenland and the Antarctic, that suggests fast-changing ice age climates may have directly impacted the evolution of our species and the course of human migration and civilization. Frozen Earth also chronicles how the concept of the ice age has gripped the imagination of scientists for almost two centuries. It offers an absorbing consideration of how current studies of Pleistocene climate may help us understand earth's future climate changes, including the question of when the next glacial interval will occur.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Frozen Earth
A must read for anyone interested in long term as well as short term climate changes that have happened.
Rating:  - Good History on Ice Ages and Earth's Climate
Frozen Earth is a very good history of the earth's ice ages. The writing is a bit academic at times, and often feels a little too detailed (which is normally a compliment, but seems to slow down the pace of this book more than it should have). This book would be an excellent resource for students of geology and climatology. If you are interested in climate change, this book would make an excellent companion piece to "The Discovery of Global Warming", because "Frozen Earth" could have been aptly ... Read More
Rating: - Very Readable
"Frozen Earth" describes Ice Ages from several different perspectives - their own natural history, how the existence of ice ages was uncovered, and the efforts to comprehend their cycles.
The book is very readable and would be enjoyable for anyone interested in ice ages, climate history, or geologic processes.
Rating: - covering the science and scientists of ice ages
This book describes the history of scientific research into ice ages, and explains the science itself. Each chapter focuses on a specific topic regarding ice ages, and covers the big names who worked in this field. The book makes good connections between the science of ice ages and other topics in science, such as human evolution, global climate change, plate tectonics, and extinction of species. The book gives good descriptions of the science involved without getting bogged down in it, thereby ... Read More
Rating: - a splendid piece of science writing
Simply put, Doug Macdougall's FROZEN EARTH is science writing at its best. Compressed within this book's crystalline prose is a plethora of remarkable insights and revelations which should shatter anyone's notions that our planet is a peaceful and stable haven of life.
The author explains how ice cores taken from remote regions have unlocked several of the mysteries of past climatic epochs. Factors such as the eccentricity of the earth's orbit, continental drift, greenhouse gases, mountain ... Read More
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