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The medea hypothesis : is life on earth ultimately self-destructive? / Peter Ward.

By: Ward, Peter D. (Peter Douglas), 1949- [author.].
Material type: materialTypeLabelBookSeries: Science essentials (National Academy of Sciences (U.S.)): Publisher: Princeton : Princeton University Press, �2009Description: 1 online resource (xxii, 180 pages) : illustrations.Content type: text Media type: computer Carrier type: online resourceISBN: 9781400829880; 1400829887; 1282158228; 9781282158221.Subject(s): Extinction (Biology) | Environmental geology | Historical geology | Life (Biology) | Evolution (Biology) | Catastrophes (Geology) | Extinction (Biologie) | G�eo�ecologie | G�eologie historique | Vie (Biologie) | Catastrophes (G�eologie) | SCIENCE -- Life Sciences -- Evolution | SCIENCE -- Earth Sciences -- General | Catastrophes (Geology) | Environmental geology | Evolution (Biology) | Extinction (Biology) | Historical geology | Life (Biology) | Leven | Uitgestorven soorten | Catastrofetheorie (geologie) | HypothesenGenre/Form: Electronic books. | Electronic books.Additional physical formats: Print version:: Medea hypothesis.DDC classification: 576.8/4 Online resources: Click here to access online
Contents:
Darwinian life -- What is evolutionary "success"? -- Two hypotheses about the nature of life on earth -- Medean feedbacks and global processes -- Medean events in the history of life -- Humans as medeans -- Biomass through time as a test -- Predicted future trends of biomass -- Summation -- Environmental implications and courses of action -- What must be done.
Summary: In The Medea Hypothesis, renowned paleontologist Peter Ward proposes a revolutionary and provocative vision of life's relationship with the Earth's biosphere--one that has frightening implications for our future, yet also offers hope. Using the latest discoveries from the geological record, he argues that life might be its own worst enemy. This stands in stark contrast to James Lovelock's Gaia hypothesis--the idea that life sustains habitable conditions on Earth. In answer to Gaia, which draws on the idea of the "good mother" who nurtures life, Ward invokes Medea, the mythical mother who kille.
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Includes bibliographical references (pages 157-172) and index.

Darwinian life -- What is evolutionary "success"? -- Two hypotheses about the nature of life on earth -- Medean feedbacks and global processes -- Medean events in the history of life -- Humans as medeans -- Biomass through time as a test -- Predicted future trends of biomass -- Summation -- Environmental implications and courses of action -- What must be done.

In The Medea Hypothesis, renowned paleontologist Peter Ward proposes a revolutionary and provocative vision of life's relationship with the Earth's biosphere--one that has frightening implications for our future, yet also offers hope. Using the latest discoveries from the geological record, he argues that life might be its own worst enemy. This stands in stark contrast to James Lovelock's Gaia hypothesis--the idea that life sustains habitable conditions on Earth. In answer to Gaia, which draws on the idea of the "good mother" who nurtures life, Ward invokes Medea, the mythical mother who kille.

Print version record.

English.

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