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9780674003422

Cosmic Evolution : The Rise of Complexity in Nature

by
  • ISBN13:

    9780674003422

  • ISBN10:

    067400342X

  • Format: Hardcover
  • Copyright: 2000-12-01
  • Publisher: Harvard Univ Pr

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Summary

We are connected to distant space and time not only by our imaginations but also through a common cosmic heritage. Emerging now from modern science is a unified scenario of the cosmos, including ourselves as sentient beings, based on the time-honored concept of change. From galaxies to snowflakes, from stars and planets to life itself, we are beginning to identify an underlying ubiquitous pattern penetrating the fabric of all the natural sciences--a sweepingly encompassing view of the order and structure of every known class of object in our richly endowed universe. This is the subject of Eric Chaisson's new book. In Cosmic Evolution Chaisson addresses some of the most basic issues we can contemplate: the origin of matter and the origin of life, and the ways matter, life, and radiation interact and change with time. Guided by notions of beauty and symmetry, by the search for simplicity and elegance, by the ambition to explain the widest range of phenomena with the fewest possible principles, Chaisson designs for us an expansive yet intricate model depicting the origin and evolution of all material structures. He shows us that neither new science nor appeals to nonscience are needed to understand the impressive hierarchy of the cosmic evolutionary story, from quark to quasar, from microbe to mind.

Table of Contents

Preface ix
Prologue: Overview of Cosmic Evolution 1(15)
Introduction: The Nature of Change 16(63)
Matter
79(22)
Radiation
101(20)
Life
121(106)
Discussion: Evolution, Broadly Considered
148(61)
Epilogue: A Grand Synthesis
209(18)
Symbols and Numerical Constants 227(2)
Glossary 229(10)
Notes 239(19)
Works Cited 258(7)
Further Reading 265(6)
Index 271(4)
About the Author 275

Supplemental Materials

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