Earth Portrait Of A Planet

This new edition will only enhance its success. It has been thoroughly revised to ensure current coverage of all major topics, especially earthquakes (including the disaster in Haiti in 2010), volcanoes, and climate change. The drawn art represents the state of the art and is both pedagogically innovative and a feast for the eyes. The Google Earth exercises provide virtual field trips to the entire world.

The #1 international bestseller: An astronaut's tour of our planet from the heavens, featuring 150 mesmerizing photographs (with commentary) from the International Space Station. During his six-month mission to the International Space Station, astronaut Tim Peake became the first British astronaut to complete a spacewalk -- and, perhaps more astonishingly, the first to run an entire marathon in space. During his historic mission, he captured hundreds of dazzling photographs, the very best of which are collected here. Tim captures the majesty of the cosmos and of the planet we call home: breath-taking aerial photos of the world's cities illuminated at night, the natural beauty of the northern lights, and unforgettable views of oceans, mountains, and deserts. Tim's lively stories about life in space appear alongside these photographs, including the tale from which the title is taken: his famous wrong number dialed from space, when he accidentally called a stranger and asked: "Hello, is this planet Earth?" With this truly unique perspective on the incredible sights of our planet, Tim demonstrates that while in space, hundreds of miles above his friends and family, he never felt closer to home.

In this portrait of Planet Earth-at just about the mid point of its probable lifespan-biologist Stanley A. Rice discusses the evolution of the network of life and the crucial role played by humans in determining the future of our world.Unlike most books on earth history, which present the story of life on our planet in terms of one chronological period after another, Rice discusses Earth's teeming diversity in terms of pivotal evolutionary developments. Among these he stresses the importance of symbiosis, sex, and altruism as key determinants of the Earth's biodiversity.Symbiosis-when single cells began working together-sparked the sudden appearance of complex animals. Much later symbiotic relationships led to flowering plants that depended on animals for pollination and seed dispersal.With the advent of sexual selection, there developed an astonishing world of complex behavior and a dizzying array of life forms. In humans, sexual selection exerted a great influence on the development of our large brains.Altruism-when species learned to work together-resulted in even greater variety and complexity. In early humans, altruism gave rise to ever-widening social circles and the spread of culture.Rice also discusses the role of photosynthesis in establishing and maintaining life on earth; the evidence for ancient natural catastrophes, which caused widespread extinctions; and the importance of religion and the recent use of scientific reasoning in the development and the future of the human species.Rice's eloquent, panoramic perspective is well designed to foster an appreciation for the scope of life on Earth and to encourage wise stewardship of the natural world on which our survival depends.Stanley A. Rice, PhD (Durant, OK) is the author of Green Planet: How Plants Keep the Earth Alive, The Encyclopedia of Evolution, The Encyclopedia of Science and Technology, and (forthcoming) The Encyclopedia of Biodiversity. He is a professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Southeastern Oklahoma State University.