Meteorites are fascinating cosmic visitors. Using accessible language, this book documents the history of mineralogy and meteorite research, summarizes the mineralogical characteristics of the myriad varieties of meteorites, and explains the mineralogical characteristics of Solar System bodies visited by spacecraft. Some of these bodies contain minerals that do not occur naturally on Earth or in meteorites. The book explains how to recognize different phases under the microscope and in bac...

The straight facts on treating diabetes successfully and living a full lifeWant to know how to manage diabetes? Leading diabetes expert Dr. Alan Rubin gives you reassuring, authoritative guidance in putting together a state-of-the-art treatment program. You'll learn about all the advances in monitoring glucose and how to develop a diet and exercise plan to stay healthy.

The Latest Scientific Discoveries Point to an Intentional CreatorMost of us remember the basics from science classes about how Earth came to be the only known planet that sustains complex life. But what most people don't know is that the more thoroughly researchers investigate the history of our planet, the more astonishing the story of our existence becomes. The number and complexity of the astronomical, geological, chemical, and biological features recognized as ...

In November 12, 2002, Dr. John Chambers of the NASA Ames Research Center gave a seminar to the Astrobiology Group at the University of Washington. The audience of about 100 listened with rapt attention as Chambers described results from a computer study of how planetary systems form. The goal of his research was to answer a deceptively simple question: How often would newly forming planetary systems produce Earth-like planets, given a star the size of our own sun? By “Earth-like” Chambers ...

The organic compounds of silicon, which have been the subject of many scholarly researches during the past 80 years, at last show promise of emerging from the laboratory and finding a place in industry. An understanding of the behaviour of organosilicon materials is necessary to their intelligent use and, inasmuch as the chemistry of these substances ordinarily is not treated in our textbooks, it is possible that a compact yet comprehensive survey of our present knowledge in this field wou...

Astrobiology is an exciting interdisciplinary field that seeks to answer one of the most important and profound questions: are we alone? In this volume, leading international experts explore the frontiers of astrobiology, investigating the latest research questions that will fascinate a wide interdisciplinary audience at all levels. What is the earliest evidence for life on Earth? Where are the most likely sites for life in the Solar System? Could life have evolved elsewhere in the Galaxy?...

INTRODUCTION TO GeochemistryThis book is intended to serve as a text for an introductory course in geochemistry for undergraduate/ graduate students with at least an elementary-level background in earth sciences, chemistry, and mathematics. The text, containing 83 tables and 181 figures, covers a wide variety of topics – ranging from atomic structure to chemical and isotopic equilibria to modern biogeochemical cycles – which are divided into four interrelated parts...

What is life? Where do we come from and how did we evolve? What is the universe and how was it formed? What is the nature of the material world? How does it work? How and why do we think? What does it mean to be human? How do we know? There are many different versions of our creation story. This book tells the version according to modern science. It is a unique account, starting at the Big Bang and travelling right up to the emergence of humans as conscious intelligent beings, 13.8 billion...

Over the last decade, the study of cycles as a model for the earth's changing climate has become a new science. Earth Systems Science is the basis for understanding all aspects of anthropogenic global change, such as chemically forced global climate change. The work is aimed at those students interested in the emerging scientific discipline.Earth Systems Science is an integrated discipline that has been rapidly developing over the last two decades. New information is included in this updat...

Written expressly for undergraduate and graduate geologists, this book focuses on how geochemical principles can be used to solve practical problems. The attention to problem-solving reflects the authors'belief that showing how theory is useful in solving real-life problems is vital for learning. The book gives students a thorough grasp of the basic principles of the subject, balancing the traditional equilibrium perspective and the kinetic viewpoint.The first half of the book cons...

Environmental Physics concerns the description and analysis of physical processes that establish the conditions in which all species of life survive and reproduce. The subject involves a synthesis of mathematical relations that describe the physical nature of the environment and the many biological responses that environments evoke. Environmental Physics provides a basis for understanding the complex responses of plants and animals to environmental change.International concern with climate...

As the search for Earth-like exoplanets gathers pace, in order to understand them, we need comprehensive theories for how planetary atmospheres form and evolve. Written by two well-known planetary scientists, this text explains the physical and chemical principles of atmospheric evolution and planetary atmospheres, in the context of how atmospheric composition and climate determine a planet's habitability. The authors survey our current understanding of the atmospheric evolution and climat...