In this wonderful introduction to nocturnal animals, kids will learn hundreds of facts about creatures of the night. Readers will find out that each kind of firefly has its own special signal, that cockroaches have been on Earth since the time of the dinosaurs, and that a litter of 14 baby opossums will fit easily in a soupspoon!
Product Description Man’s complex relationship to planet Earth is explored in this second edition of the landmark anthology edited by Frank Rhodes and Bruce Malamud. This volume provides a portrait of the planet as experienced not just by scientists, but by artists, aviators, poets, philosophers, novelists, historians, and sociologists as well.
On Earth, nothing is still. Mountains rise and fall. Tides ebb and flow. Even the continents themselves are on the move. Beneath the surface, a nuclear engine powers earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and the shifting of continents. Above ground, the sun causes the wind to howl, rain to pour, rivers to churn, and oceans to swell with waves. Processes That Shape the Earth surveys these forces and the ways they sculpt the planet. The modern theory of plate tectonics is introduced, along with other pertinent topics in physical geology. Several chapters add relevant historical context, presenting readers with fascinating discussions of Earth's origin, its history over billions of years, and the recent changes that have resulted from human activity.
Earth belongs to a group of small, inner solar-system planets, including Mercury, Venus, and Mars, which all consist of a mantle made of silica-based minerals above an iron-rich core and crusts that show evidence of meteorite bombardment and volcanic lava flow. Beyond these basic similarities, and despite their similar formation processes in the inner solar system, these four planets are strangely different from one another.
In 350 B.C.E., Aristotle, the great Greek philosopher, wrote that the Earth is the center of the solar system, and that all the other bodies in the solar system orbit the Earth while set into a complex series of spheres. However, in 1514 C.E., Nicolas Copernicus, a Prussian scientist and canon in the Catholic church, challenged these previous beliefs, theorizing that the center of the universe is not the Earth, but the Sun, that the distance from the Earth to the Sun is imperceptible compared to the distance to the stars, and that the apparent retrograde motion of the planets is due to observing them from the orbiting Earth. In a single, informative reference, "The Sun, Mercury, and Venus" discusses the innermost solar system and the importance of the Sun's energy on orbiting bodies. As the closest planet to the Sun, Mercury is the least visited of terrestrial planets and is difficult to see because it is always close to the Sun from the Earth's perspective. The Sun's brightness either damages instruments that attempt to see Mercury, or simply makes Mercury a dim and ill-resolved speck next to the limb of the Sun. This volume also covers the geological characteristics of Venus in relation to the Sun and the rest of the solar system. Perfect for those interested in understanding the science and history behind the exploration of these three celestial bodies, this volume puts a new spin on this exciting area of planetary science.
