LEADER 04391nam 2200733 a 450 001 9910451893703321 005 20200520144314.0 010 $a1-281-74762-9 010 $a9786613790149 010 $a0-231-50960-X 024 7 $a10.7312/chai13560 035 $a(CKB)1000000000460199 035 $a(SSID)ssj0000645664 035 $a(PQKBManifestationID)11463640 035 $a(PQKBTitleCode)TC0000645664 035 $a(PQKBWorkID)10683756 035 $a(PQKB)10175060 035 $a(SSID)ssj0000148659 035 $a(PQKBManifestationID)12020131 035 $a(PQKBTitleCode)TC0000148659 035 $a(PQKBWorkID)10224951 035 $a(PQKB)11174049 035 $a(MiAaPQ)EBC908452 035 $a(DE-B1597)458726 035 $a(OCoLC)829750872 035 $a(OCoLC)979620118 035 $a(DE-B1597)9780231509602 035 $a(Au-PeEL)EBL908452 035 $a(CaPaEBR)ebr10517263 035 $a(CaONFJC)MIL379014 035 $a(OCoLC)64274684 035 $a(EXLCZ)991000000000460199 100 $a20050322d2005 uy 0 101 0 $aeng 135 $aurcn||||||||| 181 $ctxt 182 $cc 183 $acr 200 10$aEpic of evolution$b[electronic resource] $eseven ages of the cosmos /$fEric Chaisson ; illustrated by Lola Judith Chaisson 210 $aNew York $cColumbia University Press$dc2005 215 $axviii, 478 p. $cill 300 $aBibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph 311 $a0-231-13561-0 311 $a0-231-13560-2 320 $aIncludes bibliographical references (p. [443]-444) and index. 327 $tFrontmatter -- $tContents -- $tPreface -- $tPrologue: COSMOLOGICAL OVERVIEW -- $t1. PARTICLE EPOCH: Simplicity Fleeting -- $t2. GALACTIC EPOCH: Hierarchy of Structures -- $t3. STELLAR EPOCH: Forges for Elements -- $t4. PLANETARY EPOCH: Habitats for Life -- $t5. CHEMICAL EPOCH: Matter Plus Energy -- $t6. BIOLOGICAL EPOCH: Complexity Sustained -- $t7. CULTURAL EPOCH: Intelligence to Technology -- $tEpilogue: A WHOLE NEW ERA -- $tFurther Reading -- $tGlossary -- $tIndex -- $tAbout the Author 330 $aHow did everything around us-the air, the land, the sea, and the stars-originate? What is the source of order, form, and structure characterizing all material things? These are just some of the grand scientific questions Eric J. Chaisson, author of the classic work Cosmic Dawn, explores in his enthralling and illuminating history of the universe. Explaining new discoveries and a range of cutting-edge ideas and theories, Chaisson provides a creative and coherent synthesis of current scientific thinking on the universe's beginnings. He takes us on a tour of the seven ages of the cosmos, from the formless era of radiation through the origins of human culture. Along the way he examines the development of the most microscopic and the most immense aspects of our universe and the complex ways in which they interact. Drawing on recent breakthroughs in astrophysics and biochemistry, Chaisson discusses the contemporary scientific view that all objects-from quarks and quasars to microbes and the human mind-are interrelated. Researchers in all the natural sciences are beginning to identify an underlying pattern penetrating the fabric of existence-a sweepingly encompassing view of the formation, structure, and function of all objects in our multitudinous universe. Moreover, as Chaisson demonstrates, by deciphering the scenario of cosmic evolution, scientists can also determine how living organisms managed to inhabit the land, generate language, and create culture.Epic of Evolution offers a stunning view of how various changes, operating across almost incomprehensible domains of space and nearly inconceivable stretches of time and through the evolutionary combination of necessity and chance, have given rise to our galaxy, our star, our planet, and ourselves. 606 $aCosmology 606 $aLife$xOrigin 606 $aMatter$vConstitution 608 $aElectronic books. 615 0$aCosmology. 615 0$aLife$xOrigin. 615 0$aMatter 676 $a523.1 700 $aChaisson$b Eric$0304998 701 $aChaisson$b Lola Judith$01056669 801 0$bMiAaPQ 801 1$bMiAaPQ 801 2$bMiAaPQ 906 $aBOOK 912 $a9910451893703321 996 $aEpic of evolution$92491197 997 $aUNINA