Controversy Catastrophism and Evolution

The Ongoing Debate
Softcover Nachdruck of the original 1. Auflage 1999
ISBN: 978-1-4613-7222-6
Verlag: Springer US

Buch, Englisch, 452 Seiten, Paperback, Format (B × H): 155 mm x 235 mm, Gewicht: 715 g

In , Trevor Palmer fully documents how traditional gradualistic views of biological and geographic evolution are giving way to a catastrophism that credits cataclysmic events, such as meteorite impacts, for the rapid bursts and abrupt transitions observed in the fossil record.
According to the catastrophists, new species do not evolve gradually; they proliferate following sudden mass extinctions. Placing this major change of perspective within the context of a range of ancient debates, Palmer discusses such topics as the history of the solar system, present-day extraterrestrial threats to earth, hominid evolution, and the fossil record.

Zielgruppe

Research

Autoren/Hrsg.

Palmer, Trevor

Fachgebiete

• Naturwissenschaften Physik Mechanik Gravitation
• Naturwissenschaften Biowissenschaften Biowissenschaften Evolutionsbiologie
• Naturwissenschaften Astronomie Astronomische Beobachtung: Observatorien, Instrumente, Methoden

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1. The Context of Evolution: The Earth and Its Surroundings.- 2. The Establishment of Gradualism.- 3. Gradualism under Challenge.- 4. Nemesis for Evolutionary Gradualism?.- 5. The Erratic Descent of Man.- 6. Toward a New Evolutionary Synthesis.- Postscript—The Hammer and The Pendulum.- References.