The medea hypothesis : is life on earth ultimately self-destructive? / Peter Ward.

In The Medea Hypothesis, renowned paleontologist Peter Ward proposes a revolutionary and provocative vision of life's relationship with the Earth's biosphere--one that has frightening implications for our future, yet also offers hope. Using the latest discoveries from the geological record...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Ward, Peter D. (Peter Douglas), 1949- (Author)
Format: eBook
Language:English
Published: Princeton : Princeton University Press, ©2009.
Series:Science essentials (National Academy of Sciences (U.S.))
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Online Access:Click for online access
Description
Summary:In The Medea Hypothesis, renowned paleontologist Peter Ward proposes a revolutionary and provocative vision of life's relationship with the Earth's biosphere--one that has frightening implications for our future, yet also offers hope. Using the latest discoveries from the geological record, he argues that life might be its own worst enemy. This stands in stark contrast to James Lovelock's Gaia hypothesis--the idea that life sustains habitable conditions on Earth. In answer to Gaia, which draws on the idea of the "good mother" who nurtures life, Ward invokes Medea, the mythical mother who kille
Physical Description:1 online resource (xxii, 180 pages) : illustrations
Bibliography:Includes bibliographical references (pages 157-172) and index.
ISBN:9781400829880
1400829887
1282158228
9781282158221
Language:English.
Source of Description, Etc. Note:Print version record.