Mysteries of Terra Firma: The Age and Evolution of the Earth

by James Lawrence Powell

In Mysteries of Terra Firma, James Lawrence Powell tells an engrossing three-part tale of how we came to understand the ground on which we walk, and how that ground holds the key to the greatest secrets of deep space and time. Naming his profound stories Time, Drift, and Chance, he tells of the three twentieth-century revolutions in thought that created the amazing science of Earth -- and of all planets to the edge of the universe. The riddle that drove the first revolution is obvious and yet in 1904 remained how old is Earth? An encounter between the imperious Lord Kelvin and a New Zealand farm-boy-turned-physicist, Ernest Rutherford, set the stage for the solution and launched a golden century of geology. As a result, scientists learned that if the 4.5 billion years of geologic time were compressed into a single twenty-four-hour period, Homo sapiens would have arrived only in the last second. The geological Revolution of Time reveals how long the ground on which we walk has existed, and how briefly we have trod that ground. In the early twentieth century, German meteorologist and polar explorer Alfred Wegener proposed a counterintuitive, heretical that terra firma is not so firm; instead of being fixed in place, continents drift. In 1926, petroleum geologists convened in New York City to discuss Wegener's radical idea, where it was met with outrage and "If we are to believe Wegener's hypothesis we must forget everything which has been learned in the last seventy years and start all over again," one attendee said. Forty years later, a new generation did exactly that. The Revolution of Drift, the second part of Powell's narrative, showed us how the ground on which we walk moves. Throughout geologic time, meteorites have incessantly bombarded everything in the solar system. Far from serene and predictable, the planets are ruled by random violence on an unimaginable scale. Once a mountain-sized meteorite flew through space, struck the Earth, killed the dinosaurs and two-thirds of all species, and spared the small hamster-sized creature that happened to be our ancestor. The chance of that happening again is essentially zero. So, the final revolution in Powell's history of a golden century of geology is the Revolution of Chance. Simply put, this revolution in thought has transformed our understanding of how lucky we really are. If we can learn so much from considering no more than the rocks beneath our feet, what will we learn when we begin walking on other planets? Mysteries of Terra Firma is both charming in its storytelling and staggering in its implications. Discovering the ground on which we stand is a fascinating journey into our past -- and our future.

Genres: Science, Geology, History, Nonfiction

272 pages, Paperback

First published November 6, 2001

About the author

Dr. James L. Powell graduated from Berea College with a degree in Geology. He holds a Ph.D. in Geochemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and taught Geology at Oberlin College for over 20 years.

He served as Acting President of Oberlin, President of Franklin and Marshall College, President of Reed College, President of the Franklin Institute Science Museum in Philadelphia, and President and Director of the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History.

Powell currently serves as Executive Director of the National Physical Science Consortium. Asteroid 1987 SH7 is named for him.

Reviews

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

how we have come to our current understanding of the earth is the focus here. the story of how old ideas were overcome by the new, and how this has shaped our view of the earth and its place in the solar system. this is approached through the scientific revolutions of age, led by rutherford's discovery of the nucleus, which inevitably led to radioactive dating; drift (plate tectonics), admiringly proposed by wegener, rejected for its counter to the fantasy idea of land bridges, only later to be supported by the new guard, and "solidified" through technology; and impact, which focuses on the struggle between those supporting volcanism as the origin of craters, and those purporting that impact not only is responsible for the visible craters on the inner planets and moon, but played, and will play, a major role in shaping our solar system we know today, including the reign of humans.

all three parts were amazing to visualize not only for the theory being illustrated, but the struggle a select few would engage in to push new ideas forward. the last part of the book dealing with impact was fascinating over the ideas of random behavior and time shaping our present experience and very existence. overall, i thoroughly enjoyed the subject matter and powell's writing style as well. rather than mulling over the stories in a factual dry fashion, james powell adds a flavor of humanity, leading the reader to appreciate the triumphs and defeats in the history of science as all part of the program.

"in spite of the evident human failings of scientists, the tapestry of science grows even stronger. egotism, prejudice, poor guesses, and outright mistakes, all in the end make no difference. their effect is only to delay truth, not to deny it. the invisible moving finger of science weaves a tapestry far stronger than scientists themselves. scientists and their theories come and go; the tapestry of science is eternal."

i recommend this to anyone with an interest in how and why we call this a "living" earth. not very much of a science background is needed to enjoy and learn from this, but as with anything, a little knowledge will bring the story to life that much more.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great stories about how science actually happens, at least in geology. How did we figure out the true age of the Earth? It wasn’t easy. How did we figure out continental drift/plate tectonics? Again, not so straightforward. What created the craters on the moon? Seems obvious now, but wasn’t. People do science and people are flawed, therefore science takes a long time and isn’t as smooth as we sometimes assume. This book is highly recommended if you want to know more about any of these things.

[Ted Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

As the title suggests, Powell focuses mostly on earth science. His book starts with about 1904 (for a discussion of earlier time-related research, see Gorst, 2001, Measuring eternity: The search for the beginning of time), with a discussion of radioactive age-dating. Like Gorst, Powell reveals much about the biases and findings of the scientists that he covers. But unlike Gorst, he focuses almost entirely on earth-related topics: continental drift, sea-floor spreading, and impact geology.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

I gave this book 3 stars only because I really enjoyed the topic and overall content of the book. However, I did not think that it was well written. In fact, more than once, I wanted to make editorial marks on the pages of the book. The writing style is unclear, non-cohesive and fragmented. If you are interested in the topic, then I'd say read the book, but definately I would not recommend this book otherwise.

[Cris · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating view of how our perception of the Earth has changed over the last few centuries. Really, a history of the science of Geology. Mix in a little politics, religious dogma and science, and you've got some controversy, baby!