Supercontinent: Ten Billion Years in the Life of Our Planet

by Ted Nield

Overview

This book explores the Supercontinent Cycle from scientists' earliest inkling of the phenomenon to the geological discoveries of today-and from the most recent fusing of all of Earth's landmasses, Pangaea, on which dinosaurs evolved, to the next. Chronicling a 500-million-year cycle, Ted Nield introduces readers to some of the most exciting science of our time.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781847080417
Publisher:	Granta Books
Publication date:	09/01/2008
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	5.10(w) x 7.80(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Ted Nield is Editor of Geoscientist magazine, and Science and Communications Officer, Geological Society of London.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements ix

Foreword - Big crunch xiii

Part 1 Moving In Mystery

1 Lost worlds 3

2 Ice at the Equator 30

3 Queens of Mu 49

4 Land of the Gonds 61

5 From out the azure main 70

Part 2 Existence of Law

6 Wonderland 91

7 World wars 125

8 Wrong-way telescope 157

9 Motherland 185

10 Birth 214

Epilogue - Life, the universe and the puddle 258

Further reading 271

Index 273

What People are Saying About This

Simon Winchester

'The four dimensional complexities of our happy little planet - "earth's immeasurable surprise" - are made elegantly accessible by Ted Nield in this truly exceptional book. At least until the next major discovery it deserves to become the standard work, ideal for students of the subject, and hugely enjoyable to those for whom the world remains an unfathomable enigma.

'The four dimensional complexities of our happy little planet - "earth's immeasurable surprise" - are made elegantly accessible by Ted Nield in this truly exceptional book. At least until the next major discovery it deserves to become the standard work, ideal for students of the subject, and hugely enjoyable to those for whom the world remains an unfathomable enigma.

Richard Fortey

Ted Nield tells the fascinating story of how the world has been made – and re-made – through billions of years of geological time. Geology underpins everything, yet the history of the continents on which we live has remained almost neglected. Nield has put this right with his imaginative and dynamic account of the movements of plates, and the assembly of the familiar world from an unfamiliar past.

— Richard Fortey, author of Earth: An Intimate History

Editorial Reviews

A fascinating and eye-opening book...In a most engaging way, Nield reveals how science has unraveled the complex evolution of our planet's surface, and presents the reader with a tantalizing glimpse of the Earth of the distant future.

BBC Focus

'The four dimensional complexities of our happy little planet - "earth's immeasurable surprise" - are made elegantly accessible by Ted Nield in this truly exceptional book. At least until the next major discovery it deserves to become the standard work, ideal for students of the subject, and hugely enjoyable to those for whom the world remains an unfathomable enigma.

Simon Winchester

Both informative and entertaining. [Nield] has thought well outside any academic box, touching on a huge diversity of topics...Nield relates many subjects that are currently major foci of research in Earth history to his theme.

Science - Kevin Burke

An accessible account of how the Earth has several times consisted of a single island landmass and will again, in about 250 million years.

Toronto Star - Peter Calamai

One of the best popularizations of geology...Giv[es] us a sense of the ancient yet powerful forces underneath us.

The Guardian - P. D. Smith

A book that examines the romance of its subject alongside its hard science... If you don't know much about how the planet's crust works, Nield's book will teach you the basics...He rocks.

Daily Telegraph - Helen Brown

As a geologist turned science journalist, editor and provocative blogger, Ted Nield has a complex view of life and science. His skills as a writer successfully convey in Supercontinent the recent exciting work in grand-scale geoscience to a wide scientific audience...The attempted reconstructions of past and future continents and oceans is a major field of activity in contemporary geoscience. To handle it without oversimplification or getting lost in a maze of detail is no small accomplishment.

Nature - David Oldroyd

Ted Nield tells the fascinating story of how the world has been made – and re-made – through billions of years of geological time. Geology underpins everything, yet the history of the continents on which we live has remained almost neglected. Nield has put this right with his imaginative and dynamic account of the movements of plates, and the assembly of the familiar world from an unfamiliar past.

Richard Fortey

As a geologist turned science journalist, editor and provocative blogger, Ted Nield has a complex view of life and science. His skills as a writer successfully convey in Supercontinent the recent exciting work in grand-scale geoscience to a wide scientific audience...The attempted reconstructions of past and future continents and oceans is a major field of activity in contemporary geoscience. To handle it without oversimplification or getting lost in a maze of detail is no small accomplishment.
— David Oldroyd

Nature

An accessible account of how the Earth has several times consisted of a single island landmass and will again, in about 250 million years.
— Peter Calamai

Toronto Star

A book that examines the romance of its subject alongside its hard science... If you don't know much about how the planet's crust works, Nield's book will teach you the basics...He rocks.
— Helen Brown

Daily Telegraph

One of the best popularizations of geology...Giv[es] us a sense of the ancient yet powerful forces underneath us.
— P. D. Smith

The Guardian

Both informative and entertaining. [Nield] has thought well outside any academic box, touching on a huge diversity of topics...Nield relates many subjects that are currently major foci of research in Earth history to his theme.
— Kevin Burke

Science