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The time machine is one of the classic devices of science fiction, a source of endless wonder and inventiveness. In a book that transfers that sense of wonder and inventiveness to the realm of nonfiction, Peter Ward shows that paleontologists do indeed use time machines to probe the deep geological past, and that both the machines and the people using them come in a fantastic variety of types. Sometimes the time machine is as simple as a rock hammer or as humble as a magnifying glass; other times it is an esoteric piece of equipment such as a mass spectrometer. Always, the most important…mehr

Produktbeschreibung
The time machine is one of the classic devices of science fiction, a source of endless wonder and inventiveness. In a book that transfers that sense of wonder and inventiveness to the realm of nonfiction, Peter Ward shows that paleontologists do indeed use time machines to probe the deep geological past, and that both the machines and the people using them come in a fantastic variety of types. Sometimes the time machine is as simple as a rock hammer or as humble as a magnifying glass; other times it is an esoteric piece of equipment such as a mass spectrometer. Always, the most important element is the imagination of the scientists willing to take the scientific and creative risks of plumbing the distant past of our planet and its great bestiary. In 10 separate essays united by this common theme, Time Machines prowls the world of steamy Mesozoic days and fetid Paleozoic nights to rediscover the grace and beauty of Earth's faraway past.
What is the past? It is a time as well as a place. Acclaimed author Peter D. Ward describes the tools that contemporary scientists use to uncover facts about the past - terrain, climate, and the life forms that once inhabited this planet. Time Machines presents fascinating profiles of the deep past and the scientists who are making it come alive.
"...for the general reader, Time Machines may be the most interesting book yet by the University of Washington prof..." -SEATTLE WEEKLY
"For anyone interested in how and why as well as the what of paleontology, Time Machines is a must read."-AMERICAN SCIENTIST