A01=J. William Schopf
Abiogenesis
Acritarch
Amino acid
Archean
Author_J. William Schopf
Bacteria
Beijing Zoo
Carbon dioxide
Category=PSAJ
Category=RBX
Charles Darwin
Chert
Chromosome
Coffin
Crust (geology)
Cyanobacteria
Darwin's Dilemma
Deuterium
Enzyme
eq_bestseller
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_science
Eukaryote
Evolution
Evolutionary biology
Fermentation
Foraminifera
Fungus
Gene
Geologist
Geology
Giant salamander
Glucose
Glycolysis
Hallucigenia
Heterocyst
Heterotroph
Layperson
Lipid
Marine biology
Metabolism
Meteorite
Microorganism
Micropaleontology
Mitosis
Molecule
Monomer
Natural gas
Nitrate
Nitrogen
Nucleic acid
Nucleotide
Organic acid
Organic compound
Organism
Paleobiology
Paleontology
Phanerozoic
Photosynthesis
Plant
Plate tectonics
Polymer
Precambrian
Prokaryote
Protein
Proterozoic
Protozoa
Ribosome
Richard Feynman
Sedimentary rock
Stromatolite
Sulfate minerals
Taxon
Tempo and Mode in Evolution
Thioformaldehyde
Zygote
Product details
- ISBN 9780691088648
- Weight: 624g
- Dimensions: 152 x 235mm
- Publication Date: 09 Apr 2001
- Publisher: Princeton University Press
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Paperback
Secure
checkout
Fast Shipping
Easy returns
One of the greatest mysteries in reconstructing the history of life on Earth has been the apparent absence of fossils dating back more than 550 million years. We have long known that fossils of sophisticated marine life-forms existed at the dawn of the Cambrian Period, but until recently scientists had found no traces of Precambrian fossils. The quest to find such traces began in earnest in the mid-1960s and culminated in one dramatic moment in 1993 when William Schopf identified fossilized microorganisms three and a half billion years old. This startling find opened up a vast period of time--some eighty-five percent of Earth's history--to new research and new ideas about life's beginnings. In this book, William Schopf, a pioneer of modern paleobiology, tells for the first time the exciting and fascinating story of the origins and earliest evolution of life and how that story has been unearthed. Gracefully blending his personal story of discovery with the basics needed to understand the astonishing science he describes, Schopf has produced an introduction to paleobiology for the interested reader as well as a primer for beginning students in the field.
He considers such questions as how did primitive bacteria, pond scum, evolve into the complex life-forms found at the beginning of the Cambrian Period? How do scientists identify ancient microbes and what do these tiny creatures tell us about the environment of the early Earth? (And, in a related chapter, Schopf discusses his role in the controversy that swirls around recent claims of fossils in the famed meteorite from Mars.) Like all great teachers, Schopf teaches the non-specialist enough about his subject along the way that we can easily follow his descriptions of the geology, biology, and chemistry behind these discoveries. Anyone interested in the intriguing questions of the origins of life on Earth and how those origins have been discovered will find this story the best place to start.
J.William Schopf is Professor of Paleobiology and Director of the Center for the Study of Evolution and the Origin of Life at UCLA. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Philosophical Society, President of the International Society for the Sutdy of the Origins of Life, editor of eight volumes, and discoverer of the oldest records of life on Earth
