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Gaia's Body Tyler Volk

Gaia's Body By Tyler Volk

Gaia's Body by Tyler Volk


$45.99
Condition - Very Good
Only 1 left

Summary

This text describes: the environment which enables the biosphere to exist; various ways of looking at its anatomy and physiology; the major biogeographical regions such as rainforests and tundra; the major substances the biosphere is made of; and the chemical cycles that keep it in balance.

Gaia's Body Summary

Gaia's Body: Toward a Physiology of Earth by Tyler Volk

If the biosphere really is a single coherent system, then it must have something like a physiology. It must have systems and processes that perform living functions. In this text, the author describes the environment that enables the biosphere to exist, various ways of looking at its anatomy and physiology, the major biogeographical regions such as rainforests, deserts, and tundra, the major substances the biosphere is made of, and the chemical cycles that keep it in balance. He then looks at the question of whether there are any long-term trends in the Earth's evolution, and examines the role of humanity in Gaia's past and future. This book describes, for scientists, students, and lay readers alike, the theory's basis in science.

Table of Contents

FANTASTIC VOYAGES. A view from above. A view from within.- GAIA AS HOLARCHY. Mats of microbes. Inward and outward causation. Planetary problems and opportunities.- OUTER LIGHT, INNER FIRE. Inclines of light. Architectures of heat. Feedbacks between life and climate.- PRIMARY SUBSTANCES OF GAIA. Air. Water. Earth. Wood.- GEOMETRIES FOR GLOBAL METABOLISM. Interpenetrations. Sheets, tubes, and tiny spheres. A spectrum of borders.- WORLD WIDE GENES. Collective green. Little enzymes that run the world.- BIOGEOCHEMICAL SYMPHONY. Carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, etc. Elemental mergings and partings. A paradox of Gaia's closure.- MOMENTS OF TRANSFORMATION. Internal thresholds. Jolts from space.- ARROWS IN THE LIFE OF GAIA. Persistence. Self-evolution. Evolution of the holarchy.- EPILOGUE: HUMANITY AS A SUBSTANCE OF GAIA.

Additional information

GOR005284355
9780387982700
0387982701
Gaia's Body: Toward a Physiology of Earth by Tyler Volk
Used - Very Good
Hardback
Springer-Verlag New York Inc.
19971023
288
N/A
Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
This is a used book - there is no escaping the fact it has been read by someone else and it will show signs of wear and previous use. Overall we expect it to be in very good condition, but if you are not entirely satisfied please get in touch with us

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