The Age of the Earth: From 4004 BC to AD 2002

The age of the Earth has long been a subject of great interest to scientists from many disciplines, particularly geologists, biologists, physicists and astronomers. This volume, The Age of the Earth: from 4004 BC to AD 2002, brings together contributors from these different subjects, along with historians, to produce a comprehensive review of how the Earth’s age has been perceived since ancient times. Touching on the works of eminent scholars from the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries, it describes how concepts of the Earth’s history changed as geology slowly separated itself from religious orthodoxy to emerge as a rigorous and self-contained science. Fossils soon became established as useful markers of relative age, while deductions made from geomorphological processes enabled the discussion of time in terms of years. By the end of the nineteenth century biologists and geologists were fiercely debating the issue with physicists who were unwilling to give them the time needed for evolution or uniformitarianism.
With the discovery of radioactivity, attempts to calculate the Earth’s age entered a new era, although these early pioneers in radiometric dating encountered many difficulties, both technical and intellectual, before the enormity of geological time was fully recognized. This effort affected both the theory and practice of geology. Geochronology was largely responsible for it maturing into a professional scientific discipline, as increasingly refined techniques measured not only the age of the rocks, but the rate of processes which now elucidate many aspects of the Earth’s evolution.
Even today the Earth’s chronology remains a contentious topic — particularly for those dating the oldest rocks — and it is implicated in debates surrounding our hominid ancestors, the origins and development of life, and the age of the universe.
The Age of the Earth: from 4004 bc to AD 2002 will be of particular interest to geologists, geochemists, and historians of science, as well as astronomers, archaeologists, biologists and the general reader with an interest in science.
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Table of Contents
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Celebrating the age of the EarthAuthor(s)Simon J. Knell;Simon J. KnellDepartment of Museum Studies, 105 Princess Road East, Leicester LE1 7LG, UK (email: sjk8@leicester.ac.uk)Search for other works by this author on:Cherry L. E. LewisCherry L. E. LewisHistory of Geology Group, 21 Fowler Street, Macclesfield, Cheshire SK10 2AN, UK (email: clelewis@aol.com)Search for other works by this author on:
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Before the hills in order stood:: the beginning of the geology of time in EnglandAuthor(s)John G. C. M. FullerJohn G. C. M. Fuller2 Oak Tree Close, Rodmell Road, Tunbridge Wells, Kent TN2 5SS, UKSearch for other works by this author on:
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European views on terrestrial chronology from Descartes to the mid-eighteenth centuryAuthor(s)Ezio VaccariEzio VaccariCentro di studio sulla Storia della Tecnica – CNR, c/o Università di Genova, via Balbi 6,16126 Genova, Italy (email: ezio.vaccari@lettere.unige.it)Search for other works by this author on:
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Buffon, Desmarest and the ordering of geological events in époquesAuthor(s)Kenneth L. TylorKenneth L. TylorDepartment of the History of Science, University of Oklahoma, 601 Elm Street, Room 622, Norman, OK 73019, USA (email: ktaylor@ou.edu)Search for other works by this author on:
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Jean-André de Luc and nature’s chronologyAuthor(s)Martin J. S. RudwickMartin J. S. RudwickDepartment of History and Philosophy of Science, Free School Lane, Cambridge CB2 3RH, UKSearch for other works by this author on:
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Timeless order:: William Smith (1769–1839) and the search for raw materials 1800–1820Author(s)Hugh S. TorrensHugh S. TorrensLower Mill Cottage, Furnace Lane, Madeley, Crewe CW3 9EU, UK (email: gga10@keele.ac.uk)Search for other works by this author on:
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Genesis and geochronology:: the case of John Phillips (1800–1874)Author(s)Jack MorrellJack MorrellDepartment of Museum Studies, 105 Princess Road East, Leicester LE1 7LG, UK (email: sjk8@leicester.ac.uk)Search for other works by this author on:
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‘Had Lord Kelvin a right?’:: John Perry, natural selcction and the age of the Earth, 1894–1895Author(s)Brian C. ShipleyBrian C. ShipleyDepartment of History, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, B3H 3J5 (email: bshipley@is2.dal.ca)Search for other works by this author on:
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John Joly (1857–1933) and his determinations of the age of the EarthAuthor(s)Patrick N. Wyse JacksonPatrick N. Wyse JacksonDepartment of Geology, Trinity College, Dublin 2, Ireland (e-mail: wysjcknp@tcd.ie)Search for other works by this author on:
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Arthur Holmes’ vision of a geological timescaleAuthor(s)Cherry L. E. LewisCherry L. E. LewisHistory of Geology Group, 21 Fowler Street, Macclesfield, Cheshire, SK10 2AN, UK (email: clelewis@aol.com)Search for other works by this author on:
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The age of the Earth in the United States (1891–1931): from the geological viewpointAuthor(s)Ellis L. Yochelson;Ellis L. YochelsonDepartment of Palaeobiology, National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC 20560-0121, USA (email: yochelson.ellis@nmnh.si.edu)Search for other works by this author on:Cherry L. E. LewisCherry L. E. LewisHistory of Geology Group, 21 Fowler Street, Macclesfield, Cheshire SK10 2AN, UK (email: clelewis@aol.com)Search for other works by this author on:
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Is the Earth too old? The impact of geochronology on cosmology, 1929–1952Author(s)Stephen G. BrushStephen G. BrushUniversity of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA (email: brush@ipst.umd.edu)Search for other works by this author on:
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The oldest rocks on Earth:: time constraints and geological controversiesAuthor(s)Balz S. Kamber;Balz S. KamberDepartment of Earth Sciences, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland 4072, AustraliaSearch for other works by this author on:Stephen Moorbath;Stephen MoorbathDepartment of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3PR, UK (e-mail: stephen.moorbath@earth.ox.ac.uk)Search for other works by this author on:Martin J. WhitehouseMartin J. WhitehouseLaboratory of Isotope Geology, Swedish Museum of Natural History, Box 50007, SE- 10405 Stockholm, SwedenSearch for other works by this author on:
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The age of the Earth in the twentieth century:: a problem (mostly) solvedAuthor(s)G. Brent DalrympleG. Brent DalrympleDepartment of Earth Sciences, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland 4072, AustraliaSearch for other works by this author on:
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Lead isotopes and the age of the Earth – a geochemical accidentAuthor(s)Albrecht W. HofmannAlbrecht W. HofmannMax-Planck-Institut für Chemie, Postfach 3060, 55020 Mainz, Germany (email: hofmann@mpch-mainz.mpg.de)Search for other works by this author on:
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Fossils as geological clocksAuthor(s)John H. CallomonJohn H. CallomonUniversity College London, 20 Gordon Street, London WC1H OAJ, UKSearch for other works by this author on:
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Time, life and the EarthAuthor(s)Aubrey ManningAubrey ManningInstitute of Cell, Animal and Population Biology, Ashworth Laboratories, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JT, UK (e-mail: amanning@ed.ac.uk)Search for other works by this author on:
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Dating the origin of modern humansAuthor(s)Christopher B. StringerChristopher B. StringerDepartment of Palaeontology, The Natural History Museum, London SW7 5BD, UK (email: c.stringer@nhm.ac.uk)Search for other works by this author on: