Amid a global zeitgeist of impending catastrophe, this book explores the culture of fear so prevalent in today's politics, economic climate, and religious extremism. The authors of this collection arg
The historical continuity of spinal catastrophism, traced across multiform encounters between philosophy, psychology, biology, and geology. Drawing on cryptic intimations in the work of J. G. Ballar
El Ni?o is an extreme climate perturbation that periodically changes weather throughout the globe, often with dire consequences. First recognized in Peru, El Ni?o events are best known and documented
Perilous Planet Earth places our concern about the threat to Earth from asteroids and comets within an historical context, looking at the evidence for past events within the geological and historical records. The book looks at the way in which prevailing views about modes of global change have changed dramatically over the years. It also considers the way in which catastrophic events are now seen to have influenced the course of evolution in the distant past, as well as the rise and fall of civilisations in more recent times. Professor Palmer argues that the better we understand our past, the greater the likelihood that we will be able to take appropriate action to preserve our civilisation for the future. Written in an engaging style that avoids jargon, the book will appeal to general readers and academics with an interest in evolution, geology, astronomy, social anthropology and history.
Rare and violent events through geological time are the theme of this readable and thought-provoking view of the Earth's history. The evidence for such episodes and rare 'catastrophic' happenings has been gleaned from the geological record of the author's travels all over the world. Such events are shown to dominate the gradual and continuous processes that we see in the record of the history of the Earth. From hurricanes to episodic evolution, from colliding continents to asteroid impacts - the importance of these events is presented with many illustrations, both pictorial and anecdotal. Jargon-free and entertaining, the ideas presented in this book will stimulate the student, provoke the professional and provide an enjoyable read for all.
William Buckland (1784–1856), Dean of Westminster, was an English geologist best known for his contributions to palaeontology. He became the first Reader in Geology at the University of Oxford in 1818. Buckland spent 1819–1822 investigating fossil remains in caves, in order to refine his concept of catastrophism. His research led him to the realisation that hyena remains in Kirkland Cave, Yorkshire, were the remains of an ancient ecosystem and were not relics of the Flood; this led to his being awarded the Copley Medal by the Royal Society of London in 1822. This volume, first published in 1823, contains a full account of Buckland's influential research in Kirkland Cave, which demonstrated for the first time the ability of scientific analysis to reconstruct events from deep time. Buckland's support for and influential revision of the concept of catastrophism is also illustrated in this volume.
Pascal Bruckner is a very well known French philosopher who writes forcefully argued essays on topical themes. In this book Bruckner sets out to attack what he calls 'ecological catastrophism' D the i
Going against both the naive techno-optimism of 'greening business as usual' and a resurgent 'catastrophism' within green thinking and politics, The Politics of Unsustainability offers an analysis of
