The Deep Hot Biosphere: The Myth of Fossil Fuels

ISBN-13: 9780387952536 / Angielski / Miękka / 2001 / 264 str.

Thomas Gold; Freeman J. Dyson

Opis

Suppose someone claimed that we are not running out of petroleum? Or that life on Earth began below the surface of our planet? Or that oil and gas are not "fossil fuels"? Or that if we find extraterrestrial life it is likely to be within, not on, other planets? You might expect to hear statements like these from an author of science fiction. But what if they came from a renowned physicist, an indisputably brilliant scientist who has been called "one of the world's most original minds"? In the The Deep Hot Biosphere, Thomas Gold sets forth truly controversial and astonishing theories about where oil and gas come from, and how they acquire their organic "signatures." The conclusions he reaches in this book might be at first difficult to believe, but they are supported by a growing body of evidence, and by the indisputabel stature and seriousness Gold brings to any scientific enterprise. In this book we see a brilliant and boldly orginal thinker, increasingly a rarity in modern science, as he developes a revolutionary new view about the fundamental workings of our planet. Thomas Gold is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, a Fellow of the Royal Society, and an Emertius Professor at Cornell University. Regarded as one of the most creative and wide-ranging scientists of his generation, he has taughtat Cambridge University and Harvard, and for 20 years was the Director of the Cornell Center for Radiophysics and Space Research.

Recenzje

From the reviews:

"always original, always important, usually controversial, and usually right"
- FROM THE FOREWORD BY FREEMAN DYSON

"an extraordinary theory from one of the world's most original minds."
- NIGEL HAWKES, THE TIMES, LONDON

"The leading supporter of the abiotic theory in the U.S. is Prof. Thomas Gold of Cornell. His 1999 book, The Deep Hot Biosphere (Springer-Verlag) is a thorough discussion of the issues. It is based in part on research financed by the U.S. Geological Survey. Among prominent scientists whose work supports the abiotic theory are Jean Whelan of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, Mahlon Kennicutt of Texas A&M University, and J.F Kenny of the Gas Resources Corporation."
- http://www.humaneventsonline.com/article.php?id=4092

"There is much to be said about this important book ... . Gold exhibits the irreversible and universal genius that we recognize in Aristotle and Leonardo da Vinci. ... The versatility and range of knowledge exhibited is remarkable. ... The Deep Hot Biosphere is a highly interesting and important book; it should be required reading for every geology student." (David Deming, Journal of Scientific Exploration, Vol. 17 (2), 2003)

"Thomas Gold is a physicist who is not afraid of controversy. ... His big new theory ... is that oil and natural gas are produced by geology and chemistry of the hot deep layers below the Earth's surface ... . The book is the best kind of science writing: contentious and passionate, with all the evidence there for you to weigh up." (New Scientist, August, 2001)

Spis treści

Foreword by Freeman Dyson; (1) Our Garden of Eden; (2) Life at the Borders; (3) The Deep-Earth Gas Theory; (4) Evidence for Deep-Earth Gas; (5) Resolviong the Petroleum Paradox; (6) The Siljan Experiment; (7) Extending the Theory; (8) Rethinking Earthquakes; (9) The Origin of Life; (10) What Next? // Notes // Acknowledgments // Index