Geologist Jan Zalasiewicz takes the reader one hundred million years into the future, long after the human race became extinct, to explore what will remain of humanity's brief but dramatic sojourn on planet Earth. He tells how geologists in the far future - perhaps an alien species re-discovering Earth - might piece together the history of the planet, and slowly decipher the fact of humanity's existence, activities, and ultimate extinction from the traces we will leave impressed in the rock strata. The Earth After Us takes ...
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Geologist Jan Zalasiewicz takes the reader one hundred million years into the future, long after the human race became extinct, to explore what will remain of humanity's brief but dramatic sojourn on planet Earth. He tells how geologists in the far future - perhaps an alien species re-discovering Earth - might piece together the history of the planet, and slowly decipher the fact of humanity's existence, activities, and ultimate extinction from the traces we will leave impressed in the rock strata. The Earth After Us takes this novel approach to show how geologists unravel the information in the rocks. As the alien scientists start investigating the strata, what story will they tell of us? What kind of fossils will humans leave behind? What will happen to cities, cars, and plastic cups? How thick a layer will the 'human stratum' be? And will it be obvious which species dominated the planet? It reveals a story of an environmental crisis similar in scale to even earlier mass extinction events, yet puzzlingly different: a crisis where extinctions were accompanied by a bizarre global merry-go-round of organisms and by sharp perturbations of climate.The trail leads finally to the bones of the inhabitants of petrified cities that have lain deep underground for many millions of years. As thought-provoking as it is engaging, this book simultaneously explains both the geological mechanisms that shape our planet, and also offers a perspective on humanity and its actions that may prove to be more objective than any other. For our final legacy, Zalasiewicz argues, will provide the ultimate verdict on our species and on our relationship to planet Earth.
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Add this copy of The Earth After Us: What Legacy Will Humans Leave in to cart. $4.08, good condition, Sold by Used Book Company rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Egg Harbor Township, NJ, UNITED STATES, published 2009 by Oxford University Press, USA.
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Add this copy of The Earth After Us: What Legacy Will Humans Leave in to cart. $26.75, very good condition, Sold by Cambridge Rare Books rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Cambridge, Gloucestershire, UNITED KINGDOM, published 2008 by OUP Oxford.
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Add this copy of The Earth After Us: What Legacy Will Humans Leave in to cart. $73.51, new condition, Sold by GridFreed rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from North Las Vegas, NV, UNITED STATES, published 2009 by Oxford University Press.
This is a quirky guide to geological process, with a unique human (or post- human) focus. In a nutshell, the premise is that we do not compete with the dinosaurs for longevity as a species, but become extinct in a geological moment. Circa 100 million years A.D., a race of rather academically inclined, space-faring aliens arrive on Earth. This motif arises in each of the ten chapters - gradually the newcomers (and we, the readers) learn about Earth, and about the ways geologists see the landscape. This conceit aside, this book is all science, not science fiction.
Fair disclosure: I have known author Jan since the late 70s, though we have inhabited different sides of the Atlantic for most of the past four decades. Jan is a leading light in the move to define our present, human-modified world in terms of the Anthropocene epoch. You may have read of him in the writings of Elizabeth Kolbert ("The Sixth Extinction"; sundry New Yorker articles).
Recommended.
A few of my own notes follow, for anyone who wants to know more of the contents...
The highlights of "The Earth After Us" include a nice description of weathering and the formation of clay minerals (p.21) and the nature of mud (pp.21-22) - the nature of fossils was recognized in China long before a similar consensus was reached in Europe (p.25) - history of science - marine sediments, turbidity currents and turbidites - some topics are treated especially well, often with droll humour - sedimentology - Agassiz, glacial geology, Milankovitch cycles and biostratigraphy (pp.101- 104) - Milankovitch cycles are recorded in deep sea sediment cores (pp.108-114), and offer a new stratigraphic tool, based on astronomical rhythms of Earth, Moon, Sun and solar system - the Cretaceous Chalk - human record of deforestation and extinctions (pp.125-134) - pollen (pp.126-130) - human threat to coral reefs (pp.134-138) - climate change, the Anthropocene, trace fossils - traces of human activities, e.g., sport arenas and cinemas ("frivolichnia") - what might remain of a city, perhaps submerged in the near future, in 100 million years? (pp.165-172) - building materials such as brick, glass, metals, plastics: their origins, natural equivalents, alteration, and future after burial - potential for fossilization of human remains (pp.191-218) - skeletons, bone and soft tissue - of sea cucumber, graptolite and wildebeest - lagerstatten with excellent preservation, such as Rhynie chert (Scotland), Solnhofen limestone of Germany, Burgess shale of BC and Chengjiang mudstones, China (pp.202-209) - a unique book, quite an easy read for an interested non-specialist, with minimal errors (p.121: 35 Ma should be 65 Ma).
