Nature's Clocks - by Doug Macdougall (Paperback)

About the Book

"A lucid and engaging account of the scientific revolution that changed the way we think about our planet and ourselves."--James Lawrence Powell, author of "Grand Canyon" and "Mysteries of Terra Firma"

Book Synopsis

"Radioactivity is like a clock that never needs adjusting," writes Doug Macdougall. "It would be hard to design a more reliable timekeeper." In Nature's Clocks, Macdougall tells how scientists who were seeking to understand the past arrived at the ingenious techniques they now use to determine the age of objects and organisms. By examining radiocarbon (C-14) dating--the best known of these methods--and several other techniques that geologists use to decode the distant past, Macdougall unwraps the last century's advances, explaining how they reveal the age of our fossil ancestors such as "Lucy," the timing of the dinosaurs' extinction, and the precise ages of tiny mineral grains that date from the beginning of the earth's history. In lively and accessible prose, he describes how the science of geochronology has developed and flourished. Relating these advances through the stories of the scientists themselves--James Hutton, William Smith, Arthur Holmes, Ernest Rutherford, Willard Libby, and Clair Patterson--Macdougall shows how they used ingenuity and inspiration to construct one of modern science's most significant accomplishments: a timescale for the earth's evolution and human prehistory.

From the Back Cover

"A lucid and engaging account of the scientific revolution that changed the way we think about our planet and ourselves."--James Lawrence Powell, author of Grand Canyon and Mysteries of Terra Firma

Review Quotes

"A helpful handbook on how we are now able to travel to the distant past."-- "Publishers Weekly" (4/7/2008 12:00:00 AM)

"For time-conscious readers, Nature's Clocks provides satisfaction beyond measure."-- "Washington Post Book World" (9/7/2008 12:00:00 AM)

"Guaranteed to improve one's understanding."-- "Natl Cntr For Science Education" (8/7/2012 12:00:00 AM)

"Rich in historical tidbits."-- "New Scientist" (7/12/2008 12:00:00 AM)

"The heart of the book reveals ingenious science."-- "Library Journal" (6/23/2008 12:00:00 AM)

About the Author

Doug Macdougall is Professor Emeritus of Earth Sciences at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, and currently resides in Edinburgh, Scotland. He is the author of Frozen Earth: The Once and Future Story of Ice Ages (UC Press, 2004) and A Short History of Planet Earth.