[onlooker]

thought I would give a heads up to members about this new book which seems fascinating and one author is Peter Ward an expert scientist of past history of Earth and life on it. Here is the title" A New History of Life: The Radical New Discoveries about the Origins and Evolution of Life on Earth" It got very good reviews on Amazon also.

[americandream]

thought I would give a heads up to members about this new book which seems fascinating and one author is Peter Ward an expert scientist of past history of Earth and life on it. Here is the title" A New History of Life: The Radical New Discoveries about the Origins and Evolution of Life on Earth" It got very good reviews on Amazon also.

A brief summary would help.

[onlooker]

Here is summary of book:
Charles Darwin’s theories, first published more than 150 years ago, still set the paradigm of how we understand the evolution of life--but scientific advances of recent decades have radically altered that understanding. In fact the currently accepted history of life on Earth is flawed and out of date. Now two pioneering scientists, one already an award-winning popular author, deliver an eye-opening narrative that synthesizes a generation’s worth of insights from new research.

Writing with zest, humor, and clarity, Ward and Kirschvink show that many of our long-held beliefs about the history of life are wrong. Three central themes emerge from the narrative. First, the development of life was not a stately, gradual process: Catastrophe, argue Ward and Kirschvink, shaped life’s history more than all other forces combined--from notorious events like the sudden extinction of dinosaurs to recently discovered ones like "Snowball Earth" and the "Great Oxygenation Event." One startling possibility: that life arrived on Earth from Mars. Second, life consists of carbon, but three other molecules have determined how it evolved: oxygen, carbon dioxide, and hydrogen sulfide are carbon’s silent partners. Third, ever since Darwin we have thought of evolution in terms of species. Yet it is the evolution of ecosystems--from deep-ocean vents to rainforests--that has formed the living world as we know it.

Drawing on their years of experience in paleontology, biology, chemistry, and astrobiology, Ward and Kirschvink tell a story of life on Earth that is at once too fabulous to imagine and too familiar to dismiss. And in a provocative coda, they assemble discoveries from the latest cutting-edge research to imagine how the history of life might unfold deep into the future.

[americandream]

Here is summary of book:
Charles Darwin’s theories, first published more than 150 years ago, still set the paradigm of how we understand the evolution of life--but scientific advances of recent decades have radically altered that understanding. In fact the currently accepted history of life on Earth is flawed and out of date. Now two pioneering scientists, one already an award-winning popular author, deliver an eye-opening narrative that synthesizes a generation’s worth of insights from new research.

Writing with zest, humor, and clarity, Ward and Kirschvink show that many of our long-held beliefs about the history of life are wrong. Three central themes emerge from the narrative. First, the development of life was not a stately, gradual process: Catastrophe, argue Ward and Kirschvink, shaped life’s history more than all other forces combined--from notorious events like the sudden extinction of dinosaurs to recently discovered ones like "Snowball Earth" and the "Great Oxygenation Event." One startling possibility: that life arrived on Earth from Mars. Second, life consists of carbon, but three other molecules have determined how it evolved: oxygen, carbon dioxide, and hydrogen sulfide are carbon’s silent partners. Third, ever since Darwin we have thought of evolution in terms of species. Yet it is the evolution of ecosystems--from deep-ocean vents to rainforests--that has formed the living world as we know it.

Drawing on their years of experience in paleontology, biology, chemistry, and astrobiology, Ward and Kirschvink tell a story of life on Earth that is at once too fabulous to imagine and too familiar to dismiss. And in a provocative coda, they assemble discoveries from the latest cutting-edge research to imagine how the history of life might unfold deep into the future.

One may argue about the nuts and bolts of evolution but as picture of material reality, it is dead on. It is otherwise termed material dialecticism...a very curious phenomenon and for me one that daily leaves me profoundly contemplative. Profoundly.

I shall have to have a look at this. Thankyou.

[GHung]

Doesn't seem so revolutionary. Sometimes events force nature's hand; eliminate current opportunities while creating new ones. Life is exploitative. Then, again, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. This all seems like common sense to me.

It all comes down to available resources. Sound familiar?

[americandream]

Doesn't seem so revolutionary. Sometimes events force nature's hand; eliminate current opportunities while creating new ones. Life is exploitative. Then, again, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. This all seems like common sense to me.

It all comes down to available resources. Sound familiar?

Very.

[ROCKMAN]

Ghung - True. Not trying to piss on their parade but everything in that synopsis was being widely discussed when I was working on my BS in Earth Sciences in the early 70's. Just AGW and PO were common subjects in my circles at the time. Perhaps they might be given credit for presenting in a more digestible form for the general public.

[onlooker]

So I guess in keeping with these concepts, it seems humanity will be going through major evolutionary pressures and stimuli. I wonder what will come out on the other side of the bottleneck of collapse. Will we learn from our mistakes as Ibon believes or will our own propensities to compete and fight along with the daunting natural challenges mean we will be wiped off the face of the Earth? One way or the other radical changes await humanity.

[americandream]

So I guess in keeping with these concepts, it seems humanity will be going through major evolutionary pressures and stimuli. I wonder what will come out on the other side of the bottleneck of collapse. Will we learn from our mistakes as Ibon believes or will our own propensities to compete and fight along with the daunting natural challenges mean we will be wiped off the face of the Earth? One way or the other radical changes await humanity.

Extinction is built into the evolutionary pathways of failed species so we can take it that that will be the risk that awaits us.

[roccman]

So I guess in keeping with these concepts, it seems humanity will be going through major evolutionary pressures and stimuli. I wonder what will come out on the other side of the bottleneck of collapse. Will we learn from our mistakes as Ibon believes or will our own propensities to compete and fight along with the daunting natural challenges mean we will be wiped off the face of the Earth? One way or the other radical changes await humanity.

Extinction is built into the evolutionary pathways of failed species so we can take it that that will be the risk that awaits us.

Perhaps - gnostic and heretical judaic midrash cosmology suggest that the material realm is a prison...and that the release of a so called divine spark is kinda the point of life. Cormac McCarthy is known to have been a knowing gnostic - in the prologue of Blood Meridian he speaks of the release of this spark. BM is a wholly gnostic tale.

Point being - enter particle colliders in the 21 century - while most of the world "fights" over oil and presidential candidates - swoon celebrities and teams...the smartest humans on the planet continue their diligent work of releasing the spark.

If i were king of the world - and knew this little secret - the ends would justify the means - even if it meant destruction of the planet and extinction of all living beings....because in 5 billion years - when the sun goes red dwarf...it's gonna happen anyway.

[americandream]

So I guess in keeping with these concepts, it seems humanity will be going through major evolutionary pressures and stimuli. I wonder what will come out on the other side of the bottleneck of collapse. Will we learn from our mistakes as Ibon believes or will our own propensities to compete and fight along with the daunting natural challenges mean we will be wiped off the face of the Earth? One way or the other radical changes await humanity.

Extinction is built into the evolutionary pathways of failed species so we can take it that that will be the risk that awaits us.

Perhaps - gnostic and heretical judaic midrash cosmology suggest that the material realm is a prison...and that the release of a so called divine spark is kinda the point of life. Cormac McCarthy is known to have been a knowing gnostic - in the prologue of Blood Meridian he speaks of the release of this spark. BM is a wholly gnostic tale.

Point being - enter particle colliders in the 21 century - while most of the world "fights" over oil and presidential candidates - swoon celebrities and teams...the smartest humans on the planet continue their diligent work of releasing the spark.

If i were king of the world - and knew this little secret - the ends would justify the means - even if it meant destruction of the planet and extinction of all living beings....because in 5 billion years - when the sun goes red dwarf...it's gonna happen anyway.

I speak from a measurable Marxian dialecticism, not the unmeasurable Hegelian variant.