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The Age of the Earth
Abstract
This is a definitive, masterly history and synthesis of all that has been said (by theologians and scientists) and is known (to science) about the question, How old is the Earth? It explains in a simple and straightforward way the evidence and logic that have led scientists to conclude that the Earth and the other parts of the Solar System are not several thousand years old, as some today would have it, but four and one-half billion years old. It is a fascinating story, but not so simple as single measurement. Our universe is a large, old, and complicated place. Earth and other bodies have endured a long and sometimes violent history, the events of which have frequently obscured the record that we seek to decipher. Although in detail the journey into Earth's past requires considerable scientific skill, knowledge, and imagination, the story is not so complicated that it cannot be explained to someone who wants to know and understand the basic evidence. This book, then, has been written for people with some modest background in science, but at a level that will allow the material to be useful and accessible to those without a deep knowledge of geology or physics or mathematics.
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“the early history of Earth after its estimated formation around 4.54 billion years (4.5 Ga) ago, was characterized by the energic bombardment of asteroids and other extraterrestrial objects, keeping Earth's water mostly in its gaseous state”
From The Emergence of Life (2019) · cites this paper as Dalrymple 1991
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Metadata
- Authors
- Dalrymple, G. B.
- Corresponding author
- Dalrymple, G. Brent
- Venue
- Stanford University Press eBooks
- Publisher
- Stanford University Press
- Published
- 1991-07-01
- OpenAlex
- W4207009598
- Cited by
- 103
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2025: 1 · 2024: 1 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 20 · 2019: 21 · 2018: 2 · 2016: 1 · 2015: 4 · 2014: 2 · 2013: 2
- FWCI
- 1.79
- Type
- book
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Stanford University Press eBooks (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Space and Planetary Science › Astro and Planetary Science
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Geochemistry and Petrology › Geological and Geochemical Analysis
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Earth Systems and Cosmic Evolution
- Keywords
- age of the Earth, geochronology, radiometric dating, creationism, young-earth creationism, history of geology, history of cosmology, Earth history, solar system formation, scientific evidence
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