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Record Nr. |
UNINA9910812653903321 |
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Autore |
Ward Peter Douglas <1949-> |
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Titolo |
The medea hypothesis : is life on earth ultimately self-destructive? / / Peter Ward |
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Pubbl/distr/stampa |
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Princeton, : Princeton University Press, c2009 |
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ISBN |
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1-282-15822-8 |
9786612158223 |
1-4008-2988-7 |
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Edizione |
[Course Book] |
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Descrizione fisica |
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1 online resource (205 p.) |
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Collana |
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Disciplina |
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Soggetti |
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Extinction (Biology) |
Environmental geology |
Historical geology |
Life (Biology) |
Evolution (Biology) |
Catastrophes (Geology) |
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Lingua di pubblicazione |
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Formato |
Materiale a stampa |
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Livello bibliografico |
Monografia |
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Note generali |
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Description based upon print version of record. |
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Nota di bibliografia |
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Includes bibliographical references (p. [157]-172) and index. |
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Nota di contenuto |
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Darwinian life -- What is evolutionary "success"? -- Two hypotheses about the nature of life on earth -- Medean feedbacks and global processes -- Medean events in the history of life -- Humans as medeans -- Biomass through time as a test -- Predicted future trends of biomass -- Summation -- Environmental implications -- What must be done. |
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Sommario/riassunto |
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In The Medea Hypothesis, renowned paleontologist Peter Ward proposes a revolutionary and provocative vision of life's relationship with the Earth's biosphere--one that has frightening implications for our future, yet also offers hope. Using the latest discoveries from the geological record, he argues that life might be its own worst enemy. This stands in stark contrast to James Lovelock's Gaia hypothesis--the idea that life sustains habitable conditions on Earth. In answer to Gaia, which draws on the idea of the "good mother" who nurtures life, Ward invokes Medea, the mythical mother who killed her own children. Could life by its very nature threaten its own existence? According to the |
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