The earth's biosphere

Evolution, dynamics, and change

Vaclav Smil

354 pages, parution le 10/10/2002

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Résumé

In his latest book, Vaclav Smil tells the story of the Earth's biosphere from its origins to its near- and long-term future. He explains the workings of its parts and what is known about their interactions. With essay-like flair, he examines the biosphere's physics, chemistry, biology, geology, oceanography, energy, climatology, and ecology, as well as the changes caused by human activity. He provides both the basics of the story and surprising asides illustrating critical but often neglected aspects of biospheric complexity. Smil begins with a history of the modern idea of the biosphere, focusing on the development of the concept by Russian scientist Vladimir Vernadsky. He explores the probability of life elsewhere in the universe, life's evolution and metabolism, and the biosphere's extent, mass, productivity, and grand-scale organization. Smil offers fresh approaches to such well-known phenomena as solar radiation and plate tectonics and introduces lesser-known topics such as the quarter-power scaling of animal and plant metabolism across body sizes and metabolic pathways. He also examines two sets of fundamental relationships that have profoundly influenced the evolution of life and the persistence of the biosphere: symbiosis and the role of life's complexity as a determinant of biomass productivity and resilience. And he voices concern about the future course of human-caused global environmental change, which could compromise the biosphere's integrity and threaten the survival of modern civilization. Contents

Evolution of the Idea
Life in the Universe
Life's Diversity and Resilience
Energizing the Biosphere
Water and Material Flows
The Biosphere's Extent
The Biosphere's Mass and Productivity
The Biosphere's Dynamics and Organization
Civilization and the Biosphere
Epilogue

L'auteur - Vaclav Smil

Vaclav Smil is Distinguished Professor of Geography at the University of Manitoba, Canada, and is the author of many books on energy and the environment. In 2001 he received the Award for Public Understanding of Science and Technology from the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Caractéristiques techniques

	PAPIER
Éditeur(s)	The MIT Press
Auteur(s)	Vaclav Smil
Parution	10/10/2002
Nb. de pages	354
Format	21 x 23,5
Couverture	Relié
Poids	856g
Intérieur	Noir et Blanc
EAN13	9780262194723