Planet Earth Manual by David Baker

Planet Earth Manual by David Baker

The Earth Manual explains the physical world in which we live by first setting the Earth within the context of the planetary system which orbits the Sun.

Where appropriate, the unique properties of the Earth are contrasted with those on other planets. Why for instance is Earth the only planet with highly mobile plates, why has its atmosphere been continuously changing over time since the planet formed and why has it got such a large [and only] Moon.

We will explore the reason why the atmosphere changed over time in response to the evolutionary progress of increasingly advanced life forms, examining why the origin of plants and the first trees re-set the atmospheric clocks and began to transform the Earth for ever.

We will look at how the Earth has laid down a vast storehouse of organic and inorganic matter which life has sapped in to for in its own advantage and we will explore how the adaptation of living things, from plants to animals, has created a world in a continuous state of evolution.

Finally, we will examine the forensic methods used by science to unlock secrets about the history of the Earth, explaining the tools used by scientists, geologists, biologists, botanists and zoologists to provide the knowledge which has formed the substance of this book.

Dr David Baker worked with NASA on the Gemini, Apollo and Shuttle programmes between 1965 and 1990 and has written more than 80 books on spaceflight technology. His previous titles for Haynes include NASA Mars Rovers Manual (H5370), International Space Station Manual (H5218) and NASA Space Shuttle Manual (H4866). His science was Earth & Planetary Physics and the evolution of the Earth-Moon system was his PhD thesis before he moved laterally into the science and engineering of the space programme. The subject of earth has been close all the way through and his Mars Rovers book really came out of his close connection to this research.