The Earth's Biosphere: Evolution, Dynamics, and Change

Book Description

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.

Customer Reviews:

The biosphere.......2007-01-15

A survey of biology (from cell biology to biome-scale ecology) and geography as pertaining to the earth's biosphere - where life on earth came from (as far as it can be known), how it will end, where it has spread, how life affects the natural cycles of carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, sulfur and other elements, what are the scaling laws for animals and plants, what is the total biomass of wild mammals, domesticated bovids and humans, and so on. So far as a nonbiologist can understand it, this is very interesting stuff.

The last chapter is about the human influence on the biosphere - human-introduced invasive species (99% of the biomass of the San Francisco Bay), air and water pollution, deforestation and global warming via anthropogenic emission of fossil carbon. I didn't know that the answer to a great many questions about global warming is, "We have no idea", since there are dozens of feedback cycles, both positive and negative, around the increased concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide and its consequences. Will plants photosynthesize more because of greater concentration of carbon dioxide? Some will, some won't. Will the warmer oceans cause the methane hydrates on the ocean floor to melt, releasing large quantities of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, into the athmosphere? Fortunately, we cannot destroy the biosphere; unfortunately, it is within our capabilities to alter it in such a way as to make the earth unlivable for billions of humans.

Smil's Energies is one of the best popular science books I have ever read.

A very useful reference on the Earth's biosphere.......2005-01-03

This is a very readable book about the history and nature of the Earth's biosphere, and ideas about its future.

Smil begins with some fascinating material on the the nature and origin of early life on Earth. That includes a discussion of stromatolites (early life), and some interesting comments about guesses of the odds of life appearing in a stellar system in the Galaxy. While estimates that hold the chances to be small are taken seriously, Fred Hoyle's argument that the chance is outrageously small is shown to be silly.

The author then describes the nature and diversity of life in general, and its resiliance to a variety of natural catastrophes, including bolide impacts and supernovae.

Smil tells us about how the biosphere is energized, by solar radiation and the Earth's internal heat. And we then see the flows of water and materials, including carbon, nitrogen, sulfur, and other mineral cycles. The next two chapters deal with the extent of the biosphere and the biosphere's mass and productivity. There are organisms that range up to 50 km above the surface of our planet, or to the bottom of the oceans, nearly 11 km down. To tens of meters below the land surface. And at temperatures ranging from 110 degrees Celsius to minus 50. pH ranges can be from 1 to 11. Meanwhile, the biomass may be anywhere from 2200 to 4000 Gigatons of Carbon.

There is a chapter on the dynamics and organization of the biosphere, including the quarter-power scaling of animal and plant metabolism "that applies across an entire range of body sizes and metabolic pathways."

After that, Smil discusses the transformation of the biosphere due to human actions, such as the release of sulfur, nitrogen, and carbon into the atmosphere. The book concludes with some ideas about the future of the biosphere. He speculates that the Earth's population will stabilize at well below 10 billion people and that there needs to be a transition "from fossil fuels to solar radiation as the dominant source of human energy needs." Meanwhile, there are problems to face: we humans are awfully prone to violence, there may be a new ice age, we could be hit by a big bolide, and so forth. Still, the author is mentions that the biosphere might prove surprisingly resiliant to what is being done to it at present.

There are a few useful appendices, covering milestones in the evolution of the Earth and its biosphere, sizes and masses of organisms, chemical reactions in the carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur cycles, and ocean and land estimates of the biosphere's phytomass, heterotrophic biomass, and net primary productivity, There's also a list of useful websites.

I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the topic.

A Masterful Survey.......2004-10-05

Vaclav Smil is a geographer, and tries to get some perspective on the life of our planet by taking the large view. This entails a sacrifice of depth to get the necessary breadth. But the task he has set himself is still to provide sufficient rigorous detail on the topics he includes (bichemistry, energetics, geology, geochemistry, etc.) to give the reader a basis for useful understanding of the complex thing that is the biosphere. It is necessary, as he asserts in his preface, to synthesize rather than specialize if we are to address the pressing questions about our living environment, which sprawls -- physically and intellectually -- over the whole world. And if you follow the references -- or just leaf through the bibliography -- you must come to realize the immense amount of learning and research that undergird this presentation.

The patron saint of this volume is the early 20th-century Russian scientist Vladimir Vernadsky, who was the first to use the term "biosphere" (actually, "biosphera") in the grand and inclusive way that the rest of the world is now getting around to doing. He calculated (or estimated or guessed) the primary productivity of the green world, the standing biomass divided into its varous categories of land and water autotrophs and heterotrophs, the interrelationships between life, the sun's energy, the composition and behaviors of sea and air, and the grand geochemical cycles. And Vernadsky was hopeful: he expected a planet-wide consciousness to arise that would manage the biosphere intelligently.

Since then, hope has waned as our knowledge and power have grown. Humanity is stressing the systems of life as much, perhaps, as any catastophe in Earth's long history. Yet this book is a hopeful gesture: it is an attempt to get a grip on the issues in play so we can act with some effect to reverse or slow the degradation of the air, land, and waters, and to restore nature to a state of robust health -- or at least to give nature some breathing room. Smil has chosen to treat in detail the questions of the origins of life, its possible existence elsewhere, and its fundamental biochemistry. He talks about life in the mass -- as a storehouse for sunlight, and as a participant in the great cycles of material through the atmosphere, waters, within the mantle of the earth, and out again. He talks about the physical constraints on life's productivity, the dynamics and organization of the biosphere. And always he is concerned with magnitudes and their relationships: it is not enough to discuss the amount of plankton in the oceans as an isolated fact. Rather, its mass and its turnover, its powers of energy sequestration, should be compared to those of land plants, and productive and unproductive sea areas contrasted.

It is implicit in this approach that the numbers matter. We must know the size and extent of things that we wish to affect or to stop adversely affecting. After all, without some sense of the magnitude of the particular flows of material or requirements of particular facets of the living world, we can waste our efforts on what amount to side issues. However, I wish the presentation had been more user-friendly: many of the charts and graphs were lifted from technical publications, and the others had that feel. The ultimate goal of all this numerizing should be -- let's face it -- a sort of pictoral understanding. To that end, I would have liked some synthesizing graphics that showed (maybe with fat arrows and thin arrows, big, little and even teeny-tiny barrels (or trees or bugs...)) how facets of the system compared, and at a glance showed the relative "importance" of things.

I know that mere magnitude is not always a safe guide to how important something is in the workings of the world. A rather small quantity of CFC's in the stratosphere has had immense effect, for counterexample. Small amounts of bottleneck chemicals like phosphorous control the richness of life in otherwise productive areas. And how unimportant is a rare -- and biospherically useless -- species?

Anyway, I cheer this parade of fact backed by much research and aided immensely by our current generation of planet-spanning monitoring devices. This is hard science, and it gives us baselines and error ranges, without which all discussion finally devolves into opinion and political posturing. Yet, when the last graph is in place, we go right on despoiling the world. The problem is not so much a technical difficulty as it is a matter of societal will. Smil admits as much in his last chapter. All that has gone before is not even really prelude. Without the active cooperation of the political entities that partition this vast human herd the environment cannot be saved. This is the hard part. It is rather a letdown, getting to this point in the book, to realize that science is powerless in the face of a desire to ignore it.

Rich with connections between ideas.......2004-01-05

This is less a review of the book then a plea for more people to read it. Like an idiot, I loaned my new copy of this book to a friend after just reading through it once. I'll be buying another, and keeping it.

Smil connects so many ideas together here that you might find yourself thinking that the dynamics of an interconnected biosphere are obvious. I suppose that's the highest praise I can offer. Complex interactions within geology, geography, chemistry and evolution are made clear in this book. The writing is bright, interesting and yet dense with information. This is large scale popular science writing at its best.

The Earth's Biosphere: Evolution, Dynamics, and Change

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The Earth's Biosphere: Evolution, Dynamics, and Change
Vaclav Smil
Manufacturer: The MIT Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OQHGTI

Average customer rating:

The Earth's Biosphere: Evolution, Dynamics, and Change
Vaclav Smil
Manufacturer: The MIT Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OQNPTS

Book Description

Numerical Palaeobiology Computer-Based Modelling and Analysis of Fossils and their Distributions Edited by David A.T. Harper University of Copenhagen, Denmark Microcomputers have become an everyday part of the palaeobiologists tool-kit. Moreover, there is now a wide range of computer software available to handle all sorts of palaeontological data and problems. This book, aimed at final year undergraduates, graduate students and professional palaeontologists, biologists and geologists, brings together the many strands of contemporary palaeontology through the medium of numeracy. It provides a comprehensive review, with applications, of the many computer based techniques available for the analysis and modelling of palaeontological data. The first part of the book covers classical phenetic taxonomy through cladistics and the computer-generated reconstructions of fossils to actual models for fossil growth. This leads onto distribution analysis and modelling of fossils in time and space. Detailed stratigraphical distributions of fossils are described in quantitative terms together with the larger-scale patterns in the history of life itself, while palaeoecology, palynofacies, trace fossils and palaeogeography are all introduced through a spectrum of numerical algorithms. The majority of the studies are linked to specific software packages and many are illustrated with case histories. Although there are a number of books available on computer modelling and data analysis in geology, no study has integrated the two with such a range of palaeontological subject material.

Customer Reviews:

Broad palette.......2005-12-09

This scholarly anthology includessections on taxonomic methods, phylogenetic systematics, modeling, biostratigraphy, database use, community analysis, palynology, and seriation (a 2-D sorting method). The focus is, as the title implies, on quantitative (computer) modeling. The papers are generally well-written and contain a sufficient number of high-quality graphics that assist in understanding. The price is a bit high, but most university libraries should have a copy available.

Book Description

This book provides a comprehensive introduction to complex variable theory and its applications to current engineering problems and is designed to make the fundamentals of the subject more easily accessible to readers who have little inclination to wade through the rigors of the axiomatic approach. Modeled after standard calculus books--both in level of exposition and layout--it incorporates physical applications throughout, so that the mathematical methodology appears less sterile to engineers. It makes frequent use of analogies from elementary calculus or algebra to introduce complex concepts, includes fully worked examples, and provides a dual heuristic/analytic discussion of all topics. A downloadable MATLAB toolbox--a state-of-the-art computer aid--is available. Complex Numbers. Analytic Functions. Elementary Functions. Complex Integration. Series Representations for Analytic Functions. Residue Theory. Conformal Mapping. The Transforms of Applied Mathematics. MATLAB ToolBox for Visualization of Conformal Maps. Numerical Construction of Conformal Maps. Table of Conformal Mappings. Features coverage of Julia Sets; modern exposition of the use of complex numbers in linear analysis (e.g., AC circuits, kinematics, signal processing); applications of complex algebra in celestial mechanics and gear kinematics; and an introduction to Cauchy integrals and the Sokhotskyi-Plemeij formulas. For mathematicians and engineers interested in Complex Analysis and Mathematical Physics.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent Book!.......2006-04-23

First let me say that this book was an introduction to the subject for me. After reading the first six chapters, and working through most of the problems, I have to say this book is great. I highly recommend this to anyone who is learning on there own. In particular, the chapter on residues is excellent. The chapter on series is also good, although I would have liked more worked examples for proofs involving uniform convergence. Also, a little more emphasis on the Arguement would have been nice. Nevertheless, 5/5 for this one, it is extremely well written and the authors really provide motivation for the theorems to come. This is definitely one of the best math books I have read. Great buy, worth every penny.

Good Introductory Book.......2004-01-28

This was the book that I learned Complex Analysis from. Definitely made the subject accessible to pretty much any reader. Plenty of exercises: some more theoretical, some more applied. It skillfully straddles the gap between being a theoretical math book and a math book for people with more applied aims (such as engineers). Most topics are covered thoroughly, though certain more complicated subjects such as winding number are left out for simplicity.

This book definitely prepared me for tackling the dense, theoretical, and exceptional "Complex Analysis" by Ahlfors. I'd recommend it as an introductory book for anyone trying to get into the subject who is intimidated by Ahlfors, as well as for anyone who is only interested in the essential commonly-applied tools.

down to earth book for people like you and me.......2001-12-10

I have just finished a class using this book, and on the whole its done a good job. I didn't find it in any way super special or anything, but I could read it and understand it. As far as math books go that is pretty good. Lots of exercises with answers in the back, which is what you need. Usually there are worked out examples of the most standard problems, but not always, e.g. there is no example of residue calculus with a Log function.

Clifford Algebras and their Application in Mathematical Physics: Aachen 1996 (Fundamental Theories of Physics)

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Dietrich et al. (Eds.) on Clifford algebras

Clifford Algebras and their Application in Mathematical Physics: Aachen 1996 (Fundamental Theories of Physics)

Manufacturer: Springer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0792350375

Book Description

Clifford Algebras continues to be a fast-growing discipline, with ever-increasing applications in many scientific fields. This volume contains the lectures given at the Fourth Conference on Clifford Algebras and their Applications in Mathematical Physics, held at RWTH Aachen in May 1996. The papers represent an excellent survey of the newest developments around Clifford Analysis and its applications to theoretical physics. Audience: This book should appeal to physicists and mathematicians working in areas involving functions of complex variables, associative rings and algebras, integral transforms, operational calculus, partial differential equations, and the mathematics of physics.

Customer Reviews:

Dietrich et al. (Eds.) on Clifford algebras.......2000-03-29

This volume is an unusually inspired collection of papers by some of the most ingenious researchers in Clifford algebras. Since Clifford algebras and the closely related octonion and division algebras are themselves one of the most inspired and ingenious tools in mathematical physics, the reader of this volume cannot go wrong. It is important that mathematicians and physicists learn about Clifford algebras, regardless of their background. Clifford algebras, like most branches of algebra, have a remarkable simplicity that appeals to the researcher's intuition, and they also have a rigor and a logical development and categorization which is hard to beat in any other branch of mathematics. Clifford algebra goes one step beyond most algebras except perhaps Lie algebras and Grassmanian/tensor algebras in that it is applicable to geometry and geometric physics to a degree that is difficult to believe. For example, quaternions (a branch of Clifford algebra) are now being applied to aerospace and space exploration, as several important volumes recently published indicate. Chisholm in Great Britain, Pezzaglia in California, Hestenes in Arizona, Bayliss and Ackermann, Okubo, Benn, and numerous others have applied Clifford algebra to quantum theory (including quantum field theory and quantum gravity), general and special relativity,and so on. The algebra itself seems to lead researchers forward with less effort. Unlike vector analysis, which struggles with inner product and cross product formalisms which are hard to manipulate, Clifford algebras have a natural multiplication reminiscent of ordinary multiplication which cuts through most of the "red tape" of theoretical and applied physics. The reader should obtain a copy of every publication on Clifford algebras, octonions, Division Algebras, etc. As I have pointed out in another review, readers with poorer mathematical backgrounds can always hire consultants and even tutors to help them translate these remarkable treasures.

Fundamentals and Applications of Complex Analysis

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elegant and useful theorems

Fundamentals and Applications of Complex Analysis
Harold Cohen
Manufacturer: Springer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Book Description

This book is intended to serve as a text for first and second year courses in single variable complex analysis. The material that is appropriate for more advanced study is developed from elementary material. The concepts are illustrated with large numbers of examples, many of which involve problems students encounter in other courses. For example, students who have taken an introductory physics course will have encountered analysis of simple AC circuits. This text revisits such analysis using complex numbers. Cauchy's residue theorem is used to evaluate many types of definite integrals that students are introduced to in the beginning calculus sequence. Methods of conformal mapping are used to solve problems in electrostatics. The book contains material that is not considered in other popular complex analysis texts. For example, one chapter is devoted to an analysis of multivalued functions, with applications to the evaluation of certain types of integrals. Another chapter deals with the singularity structure of functions that are defined by integrals which cannot be evaluated in terms of elementary functions. A third chapter develops dispersion relations, which are mathematical tools for determining a complete function from a knowledge of just the real part, or just the imaginary part of the function.

Customer Reviews:

elegant and useful theorems.......2005-07-19

The text takes you from simple complex number manipulation all the way to contour integration. Cohen draws in examples from various sciences and engineering, to illustrate the myriad usages of complex analysis.

If you are a student majoring in the physical sciences, engineering or, of course, maths, this text can be valuable in teaching the key ideas. Like residues, Laurant series, index numbers and the Residue Theorem. While some of you might at first wonder at the relevance of this to anything useful, the book's examples should disabuse you. Culminating in being able to evaluate a contour integral by finding the enclosed singularities. Elegant and beautiful. Hopefully, you will agree by the time you've gone through the book.

Book Description

Readers will be enlightened by this chronicle of common experiences from the author of Mad At Miles and Deals With The Devil.

In The Brass Bed, a collection of autobiographical short stories, Cleage engages the reader in refreshing prose/poetry which reconciles gender consciousness with the collective African American experience.

Customer Reviews:

The Brass Bed and Other Stories.......2006-07-06

Pearl Cleage is a WONDERFUL storyteller. Her short stories
here echo the warm, authentic voice readers of her novels
have come to know and love.

A master story teller...Kudos to Ms. Cleage........2005-03-15

Pearl Cleage is a master story teller as is evident in this collection of short stories. She weaves interesting tales that masterfully explore the often explored topic of racism. Though an often explored topic, Ms. Cleage handles it with expertise that lends itself to a wonderful product. We see deep into her characters and how their personal self images interweave with interactions with the outside world to form various "shades" of racism and self perception.

This is a short collection...but oh so sweet.

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